New Delhi: Scenes of destruction stood out at the iconic Red Fort on Wednesday, a day after protesting farmers clashed with Delhi Police personnel and broke through the gates of the 17th century monument to hoist the 'Nishan Sahib' flag on its ramparts.
Everything from X-ray machines to several computers and entry gates were vandalised and were left destroyed in the booking counter at the monument. Shards of glass laid scattered on the floor as an information board and a water vending machine were left also uprooted. Near the booking counter, half a dozen offices belonging to the Public Works Department (PWD), closed on account of Republic Day, were vandalised with chairs and tables left broken.
While most of the employees were on leave on account of the public holiday, a few employees who were on duty inside the premises at the time when farmers stormed it, told Millennium Post that they saw scenes of horror as they came face to face with protestors "who were adamant in their goal to hoist their religious flag".
45-year-old Ram Kumar Gupta, a security guard at the monument, said that when the farmers broke through the gates of the fort, he and his colleagues, around 100 of them, couldn't stop them from hosting their flag "as they were adamant in their intention to do it".
"At first I was very scared as I thought that these are people, armed with swords and sticks, who are acting under the guise of being farmers and unleashing violence… I told them to calm down and return to normalcy but they didn't budge," he said.
Gupta said he and other guards barely escaped being thrashed as police forces and farmers clashed with the latter resorting to lathi charge to disperse the protestors. "My family was really scared for me and kept calling me during the incident. They told me not to come for duty today but it is my job to secure this place and I can't compromise on work," he said. "I told them I'll be safe and they don't need to worry".
Meanwhile, 39-year-old Deepak Das, a sanitation worker at Red Fort, said that he and other workers ran for their safety when they saw farmers breaking the gates of the premises and barging their way in. "We ran to the gate on the other side but it too was locked so we were finding a way to escape the scuffle," Das said, adding, "Later, the paramilitary forces escorted us to a room from where we were watching news clips and video footage of farmers laying siege to the Red Fort".
Another worker at the premises, requesting anonymity, said that he was posted at Delhi Gate on Tuesday and saw tractors ramming into Republic Day tableaux which were returning from the parade that took place at Rajpath. "I saw the violence unfold in front of my own eyes. Farmers were carrying all sorts of sticks and swords, seeing which I left my work and starting running towards safety," he said. "If I had been posted here yesterday, I would probably have been severely injured," he added.
Meanwhile, security deployment was intensified at Red Fort in the aftermath of yesterday's violence and several companies of CRPF and RAF personnel maintained strict vigil in the area.