Massive traffic blockade at Rajiv Chowk in Ggn

Gurugram: Like many parts of the country, the Millennium City on Monday also felt the impact of the Bharat Bandh protests, called by Dalit organisation against the amendment in the SC/ST Atrocities Act.

Massive traffic jams blocked major roads of the city, with the Delhi-Jaipur highway being the worst affected, as protestors flooded the busiest route of the city, especially at Hero chowk and Rajiv Chowk.

After hours of blockade, the protestors could only be evicted from the area in the afternoon.

A large number of police personnel were deployed at the stretch to ensure that no untoward incidents took place.

Other major roads where traffic blockades were reported included HUDA City Centre, Sohna Road, Maharja Agrasen Chowk and Gurdwara Road.

Police also placed barricades in other major road, which slowed down movement of traffic.

Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh ordered the imposition of Section-144 in sensitive areas and entrusted nine duty magistrates the task of maintaining law and order.

There were reports that many traders and businessmen, especially in the old Gurugram area, had closed their shops. There were also incidents of minor scuffles between protestors and law enforcement officials in some of areas of the district.

Unlike Faridabad and Panipat, where incidents of mass-scale violence were reported on Monday, Gurugram, by and large, remained peaceful despite being on the edge on account of massive protest.

After the protests by members of the Rajput community against the release of the Hindi film Padmavat in January, Monday's protest was a major challenge for the Gurugram police, in terms of maintaining law and order.

"Every person has the democratic right to protest, but it should be done within the law. We have dealt with those protestors firmly who tried to adopt illegal means to justify their protests," said a senior police official of Gurugram Police.