NEW DELHI: The protesting farmers, who had gone on a rampage at the Red Fort on Tuesday during their tractor rally against the three agri laws, vandalised a ticket counter, baffle gates, baggage scanners, CCTV cameras, portacabins for officials, audio-visual equipment in the guide room, and illumination placed outside the Lahore Gate of the Mughal fort palace.
Officials of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been asked to assess the damage and send the report to the culture ministry. During his visit to the fort on Wednesday, Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel called for the report about the incident and also directed ASI officials to lodge an FIR against the miscreants, who had entered the protected site riding their tractors on Republic Day.
The fort was closed for general visitors in view of the Republic Day celebrations when hundreds of farmers stormed the building. “Fortunately, the mob didn’t move deep inside the complex. They went to the rampart and placed their flag,” an ASI official said. The ASI has decided not to open the site for tourists till January 31 before adequate security arrangements are restored.
Senior ASI officials, including director general of the ASI V Vidyavathi, were also present when the minister reached the fort. On Tuesday, Patel had condemned the farmers’ march to the Red Fort. However, some farmers saw it as a symbolic victory that they were inside the iconic monument on Republic Day.