Barricades will be removed on the basis of farmers’ movement, police said (File)
New Delhi:
Delhi Police will remove several layers of barricades at the protest sites of the three farmers in a phased manner, depending on the movement of the protesters, who will start returning home from tomorrow, officials said on Friday.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of 40 farm unions, had on Thursday decided to suspend the agitation against agricultural laws and announced that they would be camping in three border points of Delhi – Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur. Farmers will go back. House.
The announcement came after the SKM, which is spearheading the agitation, received a letter signed by the central government, asking it to consider the pending demands of farmers, including withdrawal of cases against farmers and formation of a committee on Minimum Support Price (MSP). agreed to. ) for their crops.
According to the Delhi Police, security has been tightened at the protest sites to keep an eye on the movement of farmers.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Bijendra Kumar Yadav said that the farmers have formally announced that they will start returning home from Saturday, but it is not a time-bound exercise as their agitation will continue throughout the day.
“Based on the movement of a large number of farmers, several types of barricades, including cement jerseys, will be removed simultaneously. Police will also start de-barricading in a processed manner,” he said.
Officials said that the temporary structure built to house the police personnel will also be removed eventually.
A senior official said barricades put up on one side of the carriageway on Rohtak Road, at the Tikri border in outer Delhi, were removed in October to facilitate movement of traffic.
On the other side of the carriageway, where farmers were agitating, temporary accommodation was being vandalized by protesters as they prepared to return home, he said.
“We are keeping a close watch on the (farmers’) activities and our forces are on alert to ensure that no untoward incident takes place,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (External) Parvinder Singh said.
At the site of a protest against anti-agriculture laws in Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, the Delhi Police removed barricades and concertina wires in October.
Last year, several layers of iron and cement barricades and at least five layers of concertina wires were erected. The blockade was further strengthened after violence on January 26 in several parts of the national capital during a farmers’ tractor rally.
“The process of removing barricades on NH-9 (Rohtak-Delhi Highway) was done in October this year to ease vehicular movement, but we have still put up movable barricades which will eventually coincide with the movement of farmers towards their destination. Will be removed. Should be done in a phased manner,” said a senior police officer from East district.
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