Chaos emerged near ITO area in Delhi as tractors driven by protestors deliberately tried to run over police personnel deployed in the area.
Violence broke out as protesting farmers reached ITO after breaking police barricades placed opposite old Delhi Police headquarters. Some of the protesters were seen attacking police personnel and vandalising vehicles.
Several people including police personnel suffered injuries during the clash.
Reports of farmers breaking barricades to enter Delhi and indulging in vandalism poured from several parts of the city.
Thousands of tractors rolled into Delhi even as the 72nd Republic Day parade was underway. Vandalism was reported from ITO where the Police Headquarters are situated.
In wake of the violence, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation closed the entry and exit gates of various metro stations on the yellow, green, violet and blue lines in wake of the farmers’ tractor rally running amok in the heart of the national capital.
“Entry/exit gates of Samaypur Badli, Rohini Sector 18/19, Haiderpur Badli Mor, Jahangir Puri, Adarsh Nagar, Azadpur, Model Town, GTB Nagar, Vishwavidyalaya, Vidhan Sabha and Civil Lines are closed,” DMRC tweeted.
Entry/exit gates of all stations on the green line, Lal Quila, Indraprastha and ITO metro stations have been closed.
Meanwhile, farmer leader and Spokesperson, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) Rakesh Tikait denied any reports of violence by farmers.
“Rally is going on peacefully. I don’t have any knowledge of it (violence). We are at Ghazipur and are releasing the traffic here,” he said.
Source: dnaindia.com