40k security staff deployed, Metro stns shut to prevent rerun of R-day violence
Karn Pratap Singh
NEW DELHI: Delhi-ncr remained peaceful on Saturday — with police and paramilitary forces covering every inch of the city, barricades coming up at all strategic points to deter protesters and some Metro stations shutting their gates for more than five hours — as thousands of farmers held a “chakka jam” protest to press for the repealing of three contentious farm laws that the Central government had passed in September last year.
Police said at least 62 protesters were detained from outside Shaheedi Park near ITO in central Delhi on Saturday where they had gathered to hold a demonstration in solidarity with the ongoing farmers’ agitation. All the detained persons were let off in the evening and no FIR was registered against them.
On Saturday, the three-hourlong chakka jam protest called by farm unions concluded peacefully in Delhi amid heightened security and full-scale police deployment to prevent a rerun of violence that had taken place on Republic Day. On Saturday, nearly 40,000 security personnel from Delhi Police and from the paramilitary forces fanned out across the capital to maintain law and order.
Authorities also suspended internet connectivity at three protest sites of Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri, as well as adjoining areas, for 24 hours till Saturday night. The entry and exit gates of at least 10 metro stations – Lal Quila, Jama Masjid, Delhi Gate, ITO, Mandi House, Janpath, Central Secretariat, Khan Market, Nehru Place and Vishwavidalaya – were closed for nearly five hours as a precautionary measure aimed at avoiding arrival of agitators for taking part in the chakka jam protest. The stations were closed between 10-30 am and 11.30 am and were reopened by pm.
The three protest sites — Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur — where thousands of farmers have been protesting against the three contentious agriculture laws remained under a cloak of multilayered barricading, with barbed wiring on top, concrete walls, trenches, and nails boards being drilled onto the roads. Nets to block stones in case of stone pelting were also placed even as a heavy contingent of security personnel, armed with anti-riot gear, kept a watch at the barricades and patrolled the streets around the protest sites.
Drone cameras were also used at the borders and Shaheedi Park for aerial surveillance and to capture the activities of protesters. From Friday evening onwards, checking of vehicles at the border points had been stepped-up to ensure that no miscreants or farmers entered Delhi for the chakka jam.
“However, the checking was relaxed late Saturday morning, following intelligence inputs that the protesting farmers or groups were not entering Delhi,” a police officer deployed at Anand Vihar border said.
Even as the farm unions on Friday declared that “there will be no chakka jam inside Delhi”, Delhi Police spokesperson Chinmoy Biswal said, “Considering the violence that erupted on January 26 during the tractor rally, we did not want to take any chances. Elaborate security arrangements were put in place and a full-scale vigil was checked untoward incidents and trafficrelated inconvenience. No violence happened and traffic remained normal.”