Metal, concrete barricades and cops wait for farmers

New Delhi: Authorities here intensified security arrangements on Tuesday to stop a farmers’ march from entering Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders were shut while the Red Fort complex was closed temporarily after peasants on their way to the national Capital clashed with police at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.

Multi-layer barricades, concrete blocks, iron nails and walls of containers have been placed at the Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders, with the deployment of a large number of security personnel in anti-riot gear.

With massive security arrangements at the three border points, commuters had a harrowing time as

they spent hours stuck in jam-packed traffic.

Metal and concrete barricades were put up at many places in central Delhi as part of the security arrangements. Multiple gates of nine metro stations near important installations, including Parliament, were shut. The gates were opened later.

Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Ravindra Yadav, while visiting the Singhu border in the evening, made an announcement, asking the personnel to respond “aggressively” if the protesting farmers try to enter Delhi and “show aggression”.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are spearheading the “Delhi Chalo” agitation to put pressure on the BJP-led Centre for their demands, including a law on a minimum support price for crops and loan waivers.

Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora visited the Tikri and Singhu borders to review the security arrangements.

Earlier in the day, farmers from Punjab faced tear gas shells — some dropped by a drone — at two border points of Haryana-Punjab as protesters tried to break past barricades that were installed to stop them from heading to Delhi.

Police hurled tear gas shells and the protesters hurled stones at the Shambhu border near Haryana’s Ambala.

Tear gas was also used against protesters at the border between the two states in Haryana’s Jind district.

Hours after the clashes between the farmers and security personnel at the Punjab-Haryana border, the Delhi Police closed the Tikri and Singhu borders for the movement of vehicles, forcing people to cross these points on foot.

Arun Singh from Uttarakhand, who was on his way to visit his ailing father at a Delhi hospital, felt helpless after being stuck in traffic at

the Ghazipur border for hours. People had to cross the Singhu border between Delhi and Haryana on foot.

Meanwhile, the Red Fort complex was temporarily closed for visitors due to security reasons. Asked when the 17th-century monument will reopen, an official said “it will be the call of security agencies”.

The Delhi Police has issued prohibitory orders

under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for a month — banning an assembly of five or more people,

processions or rallies and the entry of tractor-trolleys ferrying people.