Traffic crawls in Delhi-NCR due to road closures over Bharat Bandh, Cong protests against Agnipath scheme

New Delhi/noida: Commuters had a harrowing time as traffic crawled for several hours on key arterial stretches entering Delhi from neighbouring towns due to barricades put up by police in the wake of Bharat Bandh and protest by Congress over the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme and "vendetta politics" against Rahul Gandhi.

Long queues of vehicles were seen at Delhi's borders, including the entry point from Noida via DND, Chilla border, Delhi-Gurugram expressway and Ghazipur.

Commuters from Noida and Gurugram were left hassled as they battled traffic snarls while driving into the city whereas inside the capital, Lutyens' Delhi, which was the epicentre of protests, remained chock-a-block.

Commuters were left stranded at a number of locations in the capital such as Connaught Place, Jantar Mantar, Barapullah corridor, Ring Road, Vikas Marg, and ITO among others, due to the protests.

Protests against the Centre's Agnipath scheme not only affected traffic on the roads.

Indian Youth Congress workers also stopped a train at the Shivaji Bridge railway station near Connaught Place here to protest against the questioning of Rahul Gandhi's by the Enforcement Directorate and to push for their demand for a rollback of the scheme.

This again led to inconvenience to passengers travelling trough trains to reach their destinations in the region. The track was cleared by police and security personnel and train movement resumed after about half an hour, sources said. In view of Bharat Bandh observed in parts of the country, the Delhi Police on Monday tightened security across the city and its bordering areas and warned of strict action against those trying to disrupt the law and order situation.

Also, keeping in mind the Congress' protest against the Enforcement Directorate questioning senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, adequate security arrangements have been put in place and strict vigil is being kept as per the intelligence input, police said. There is heavy deployment at railways stations across the national capital and the Government Railway Police Force (GRPF) is also coordinating with its units in the neighbouring states, they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Branch and PRO, Suman Nalwa warned of strict action against any person trying to disturb the law and order situation in Delhi.

Meanwhile, around 30 people, including Congress leaders and workers, were on Monday detained as a precautionary measure by police in Noida while they were moving towards Delhi to participate in anti-Agnipath protests, officials said.

The action came amid a call for Bharat Bandh' by a section of people who have demanded the rollback of the new central government scheme for recruitments to the armed forces.

Police personnel, including senior officers, were deployed at the border points of Gautam Buddh Nagar district, adjoining Delhi, and inspection of vehicles intensified in view of the call for the strike, the officials said.