Cops tighten border vigil to contain protesters
Gurugram The Delhi Police carried out intense checking at Sirhaul toll plaza, Kapashera and Aya Nagar on MG Road, the three main borders between Delhi and Haryana, to ensure that vehicles ferrying those protesting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) from Haryana and Rajasthan did not enter the national capital on Thursday.
Police officials at the border said that they had with them a list of vehicles, with registration numbers of Haryana and Punjab, that could be used for transporting the protesters. “We have a list of vehicles and we are keeping a strict watch so that these are not used to transport people,” a police official said, on the condition of anonymity.
At the three borders, vehicles ferrying groups of men were flagged, the occupants were asked for identity cards and to prove their destination. As a result of the barricading, thousands of vehicles got stuck on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and the jam spilt onto the arterial roads, forcing commuters to spend hours on the road.
Two major protests against CAA were planned in Delhi for Thursday — at Red Fort and Mandi House — and it was anticipated by the Delhi Police that protesters from Mewat in Haryana and neighbouring Rajasthan could reach these venues in large numbers. A large rally in Nuh on Wednesday had also set the alarm bells ringing as protesters there had announced that they will march to Delhi on Thursday, said police officials.
Inspector Sanjeev Kumar of the Delhi Police, who was in charge at Sirhaul border, said that this checking was being carried out as a preventive measure to ensure that protesters from outside did not gather in large number at one place. “We are not detaining anyone but just checking the vehicles and asking for identification. No one is being detained. It is only meant to ensure that unwanted elements don’t enter Delhi under the prevailing circumstances,” he said, adding that this had slowed down the traffic.
Around eight to 10 multi-utility vehicles, such as Bolero jeeps, Tata Sumo and vans, ferrying large groups of men were stopped by the police between noon and 2pm and the occupants were asked to prove their identity. “We are going to the airport as someone died recently and his body will reach the Delhi airport by 3pm,” said Mohd Irshad, who was travelling with a large group, of friends and relatives.
To verify whether he was speaking the truth, officials asked a policeman to travel with them and ensure that they went only to the airport. “We are allowing people to travel for bona fide reasons and no one has been stopped,” said Kumar.
