The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the district administrations to get all the farmers protest site on the state’s borders with Delhi vacated

NEW DELHI – In view of the tensed situation at the Singhu border, the protesters camping at the site have been cornered to a designated area near the central stage, while the key routes connecting Delhi and Haryana around the border were blocked on Thursday.

Several routes connecting both Delhi and Haryana to the Singhu border were also closed by the Delhi police and para military forces. Besides, barricades have also been put up to disperse the protesters.

“We have stepped up arrangements to prevent any untoward incident at the Singhu border. The shops adjoining the border were also forced to shut,” said a senior Delhi police officer.

Two days after the violence broke out in the national capital, local residents around the Singhu border on Thursday demanded that farmers should vacate the protest site.

Some locals from Bakhtawar Pur and Hamidpur villages were seen agitating against the farmers at the border.

Singhu appeared a little subdued, a lot emptier as the deployment of the additional police force made the situation more tensed and charged up. Apprehensions were raised about a possible action by cops on the protesters as the news from Ghazipur border too reached Singhu about the mounting pressure by the Uttar Pradesh police.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over two month now against the Centre’s three farm laws.

Ghaziabad admin orders to get Ghazipur protest site cleared

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the district administrations to get all the farmers protest site on the state’s borders with Delhi vacated, officials said on Thursday.

The orders came two days after violence during the ‘Kisan Gantantra parade’ on the occasion of the Republic Day at several locations in the national capital.

The farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Ghazipur border had been sitting on protest against the three farm laws since November 26 last year, demanding the repeal of the three farm laws and ensuring the minimum support price (MSP) for their produce.

A senior police official wishing not to be named told IANS: “Yes, we have received orders from the government to get all the farmers protest site on the borders of the state vacated.”

Earlier in the day, there was heavy deployment of security personnel, comprising the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force and the Rapid Action Force at the Ghazipur protest site.

The farmers have blocked the Delhi-Meerut highway from one side since November 26 last year.

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait, who has been named in the FIR by the Delhi Police in connection with the Republic Day violence also made a presence at the Ghazipur border, after going underground for last two days.

A team of senior officials of the Ghaziabad police and administration also arrived at the Ghazipur border to apprehend him.