NEW DELHI: Activists from various student organisations hit the streets on Friday to protest against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme, leading to the closure of gates at some metro stations and keeping police on their toes.
The Delhi Police said no permission was granted to the protestors. Even as the protests escalated across the country, Delhi remained relatively quiet. Police made traffic arrangements to ensure that the commuters don’t face any difficulty.
The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) claimed that the main gate of its Raisina Road office was barricaded by the Delhi Police without assigning any reason, turning the premises into a “police cantonment”.
The police, however, said they had just made “adequate security arrangements” as the IYC had no permission to take out a protest march.
“Our entire office on Raisina Road has been barricaded. We are not being allowed to go outside and the members trying to enter the office are being detained. No reason has been given for this barricading,” IYC’s national media in-charge Rahul Rao said.
A senior police officer said prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were issued in the area, banning large gatherings. The All India Students’ Association (AISA) alleged that the scheme is nothing but a design to destroy permanent jobs in the armed forces. The protesters raised slogans such as “Agnipath wapas lo, tanashahi nahi chalegi (take back Agnipath, dictatorship will not work)”.
A senior police officer said around 17-18 people were detained from the area. “All gates of ITO Metro Station were closed,” the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said as the protest escalated. The entry and exit gates of some other metro stations including Delhi Gate and Jama Masjid were also briefly closed, and the
DMRC said.