The Delhi Police have stepped up security measures in anticipation of hundreds of farmers expected to extend their support to the wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced a nationwide agitation in support of the wrestlers who have been protesting against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Singh has been accused of sexual harassment by some of the women wrestlers.
The SKM has demanded Singh’s immediate arrest, and several senior leaders of the SKM from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and western Uttar Pradesh will visit Jantar Mantar on Sunday with hundreds of farmers.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made at Jantar Mantar, with security forces deployed and activities at the protest site being monitored round the clock through CCTVs to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. Multiple layers of barricades have also been put in place at the protest site as well as at the border areas of Delhi. Vehicles entering Delhi are being checked, and pickets have been increased at Delhi-Ghazipur, Tikri, and Singhu borders.
A senior police officer said that “we have taken adequate security measures to ensure that the protest at Jantar Mantar remains peaceful. CCTV surveillance is being done, and we have deployed an adequate number of security personnel there. Those visiting the protest site are being checked thoroughly as part of precautionary measures.”
Another senior officer said, “We have intensified our patrolling in the border areas of Delhi, be it Ghazipur, Singhu, or Tikri. We have also enhanced the number of pickets and are carrying out intensive checking of vehicles.”
On Thursday, a group of farmers coming to Delhi to visit Jantar Mantar was stopped by the police at the Singhu border, with officials saying 24 of them had been detained. The wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar since April 23, and on April 28, Delhi Police registered two FIRs against Singh on the basis of complaints filed by seven women wrestlers, including a minor.
In conclusion, with the increasing number of supporters expected to visit the Jantar Mantar protest site, the Delhi Police has tightened security measures to ensure that the protest remains peaceful.