Delhi Police have increased security measures across the city following the recovery of suspected ammonium nitrate and arms in Faridabad, Haryana. The heightened security includes increased surveillance at border points and sensitive zones.
The police suspect the recces were part of a larger conspiracy to target the historic monument on January 26, which might have failed due to intense patrolling in the area at the time.
On Sunday, the city police removed two huge cement barriers for those commuters who walk towards Delhi using a small passage at the Singhu and Tikri borders.
A group of 101 farmers will march to Delhi on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has said. The march will begin at 1 p.m. and the group will face heavy police and security presence. The farmers are demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price of crops, a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
After over a year, the Singhu border, which was the epicentre of the farmers' agitation, now bears a deserted look with the last batch of demonstrators leaving for their home states on Monday.
This was second time in a month that the TMC supremo had a telephonic interaction with the agitating farmers.
"We are strengthening our communication and other infrastructure to continue the agitation for a long period," said Deep Khatri associated with managing logistics at the Singhu Border protest site.
The protesting farmers huddled in small groups to discuss the repercussions of the killing. They also maintained a distance from the journalists who went to Singhu border to cover the incident.
Farmer leaders said they were making arrangements for the women coming from different parts of Punjab. Tents are being put up, a separate langar is being planned, and extra temporary toilets are being arranged, they added.
The locals demanded that farmers vacate the Singhu border protest site as they had "insulted" the national flag during their tractor parade on Republic Day.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by residents of Sonipat seeking opening of the roads connecting Delhi and Haryana at Singhu border here, which have been blocked by farmers protesting against three agri laws and asked the petitioners to approach the High Court.
The incident comes close on the heels of a Sikh preacher, Sant Ram Singh, allegedly committing suicide near the Singhu border last week as he was "unable to bear the pain of the farmers".
Punjab footballer Tony Sandhu and Kabaddi player Mangi Bagga from Punjab's Shahkot started the initiative to help protesters with accommodation at the Singhu border. The makeshift arrangement is currently being used by approximately 2,000 people.
It was business as usual for agitating farmers at Singhu border on Wednesday as some were busy with langars while others listened to speeches of their leaders even as talks of the tractor rally that witnessed vandalism and violence a day before filled the air.
Standing by his cycle, the 36-year-old from Punjab Moga's district said he could have taken a bus or a train to Delhi, but that could mean his family would have to go hungry.
A 45-year-old farmer from Punjab, who was a part of the protest against the Centre's farm laws, allegedly hanged himself from a tree near the Singhu border, the police said on Wednesday.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and 150 Ladakhis were again detained after they were released by the Delhi Police late Tuesday night, even as their indefinite fast continue at the police stations, officials said on Wednesday.
A habeas corpus petition was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela for listing on October 3 by a lawyer for Wangchuk's "next friend".
Protesting farmers, who have been holding their fort at the Singhu border for over 20 days, are keeping monotony and boredom at bay by adding new books to their reading list -- day after day.
The commuters moving between Delhi and Haryana were either stuck up for hours on the closed borders or walked on foot to reach their respective destinations.
'These small efforts by the youngsters to help aged people like us will go a long way in strengthening our fight against the centre'
The heightened security measures and restrictions have been brought into place after violence on Republic Day that left 394 policemen injured and one protester dead.
The sewadars, which also include a woman, sit on the ground and urge people to offer their 'jodas' (shoes) while they wait in front of their makeshift counter, on the Haryana side of the Singhu border, close to a tent where farmer leaders speak vociferously against the new farm laws, reiterating demands for repealing them.
The farmer leaders insist that the crowd is merely shifting from one spot to another to mobilise more people to join the movement.
Wangchuk, who has been camping at Ladakh Bhawan in the national capital, is yet to be approached by a central government representative, a group member said.
The body alleged that a religious colour is being given to their movement.
Iron rods have been hooked between two rows of cement barriers on a flank of the main highway at the Singhu border to further restrict the movement of protesters, agitating against the new farm laws.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and several others who were detained at the Delhi border while marching to the capital to demand Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh on Tuesday launched an indefinite fast at police stations where they have been kept.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Monday said he and his supporters will stay put at the Ladakh Bhawan till the authorities tell them when they will be able to meet the country's top leadership.
The letter said the high-powered committee of the ministry, which was holding talks with representatives from Ladakh, will meet them next on December 3.
In view of the farmers' protest and march to Parliament, the Delhi police started preparations to check the advancing farmers' march beforehand, an officer said.
Authorities in New Delhi intensified security arrangements on Tuesday to stop the farmers' march from entering Delhi as the Singhu and Tikri borders were shut while the Red Fort complex was closed temporarily after peasants on their way to the national capital clashed with the police at the Shambhu border between Haryana and Punjab.
The mortal remains of Lakhbir Singh were cremated at his native village in Punjab's Tarn Taran amid tight security in the presence of his family members. No Sikh priest was present to perform Ardas (Sikh religious prayer) and no one from his village, Cheema Kalan, attended the last rites.
The Ludhiana MP's vehicle was also damaged in the attack at the Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Memorial where he had gone with Congress' Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla and party MLA Kulbir Singh Zira to attend the event.
Haryana Police lobbed tear gas shells at farmers from Punjab at Shambhu border between the two states as thousands of protesters stayed put there on Wednesday, the second day of their 'Delhi Chalo' march.
With protesting farmers seeking to march to the national capital, security remained tight on Wednesday with personnel deployed in huge numbers and barricades regulating movement in central Delhi and at border points with Haryana, which can cause hardships to commuters.
Referring to the incident, a fresh plea has been filed for urgent hearing of the PIL, pending since March this year, saying "The right to freedom of speech and expression cannot supersede the right to life and if this protest is allowed to go in like this, the nation at large will be at a loss."
'Are we to believe that coordinated moves by the Canadian and US authorities are no longer taking place?', asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Delhi Police directed security personnel deployed at Delhi's Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur border points to stay alert and conducted mock drills on Tuesday, a day ahead of protesting farmer's proposed march towards the national capital.
The Delhi Police has already stocked up a large number of tear gas shells and ordered 30,000 more from the BSF's Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) located at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior, an official said.
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