NEW DELHI: Days after security blanket cloaked the national capital in view of the October 10 protest, the city saw a significant reduction in the number of barricades and road bloackades on Tuesday, even as scattered protests were organised by student bodies, members of the news media and lawyers. Hundreds of agitators, including the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) Saurav Das & Ashutosh Ranka, and National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) national president Vinod Jakhar, were detained from different sites.
While the roads leading to Jantar Mantar remained barricaded, access to the adjoining paths was available, with most of the barricading removed, even as the security forces continued to keep vigil.
The roads leading to Jantar Mantar, including from Connaught Place and the Janpath metro station, remained off limits. A large police force was deployed at Connaught Place, even though the CP area saw regular traffic movement. Meanwhile, the roads leading from the Shangri-La hexagon, including the Raisina Road, Ashoka Road, Janpath Road and Firozshah Road, were opened to the public.
The protests on Tuesday were separate and isolated. Members of the media held a march around the Press Club of India against the alleged assault on and detention of members of the press during the police clampdown during the recent protests.
The CJP’s Das and Ranka were detained while trying to hold a protest at Jantar Mantar, a day after the site was denotified for demonstrations. Members of a student organisation, Disha, later took out a march from Connaught Place, demanding their release. The protesters called on the masses to “reclaim Jantar Mantar”.
Meanwhile, members of the NSUI were picked up while staging a flash protest at the Rajiv Chowk metro station. The NSUI team, led by Jakhar, had gathered at Gate No. 7 of the metro station and started raising slogans against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. Jakhar, along with hundreds of activists were detained, according to a statement issued by the outfit.
Jakhar said “detention of student activists would not silence their demand for accountability from the Election Commission, alleging that authorities were using force to curb peaceful protests.”
Central Delhi is limping back to normalcy as the security chokehold that gripped the area for over two days amid law and order concerns over widespread protests began to ease.
The Delhi Police and other Central agencies had made unprecedented security arrangements in Delhi last Friday in the lead up to the October 10 protest. The New Delhi district had turned into a virtual fortress, with restrictions applied even to courts and educational institutions. Authorities had deployed over 25,000 police and paramilitary personnel to curb the movement of protesters.
Police had divided the New Delhi district, where Jantar Mantar lies, into 20 zones. Each zone was monitored by a joint commissioner, a deputy commissioner and an additional deputy commissioner.
Some roads opened to general public
The roads leading to Jantar Mantar, including from Connaught Place and the Janpath metro station, remained off limits. But roads leading from the Shangri-La hexagon, including the Raisina Road, Ashoka Road, Janpath Road and Firozshah Road, were opened to the public.