Heavy police presence at Karbala and Delhi’s borders prevented the Shias from staging their planned protest against the alleged encroachment of a piece of land at Karbala in south Delhi. Having learnt its lessons well, the Delhi Police was ready with the contingency plans and did not allow the situation to drift.
Security has been beefed up at National Highway 24 by Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police fearing disruption by Shia groups, which have threatened to march towards Karbala from Ghaziabad on Monday. However, several diversions on NH 24-link Road, were enforced in east Delhi area which lead to traffic snarls on arterial roads on the first day of the weekend in the east Delhi. The situation was normalised in the evening when the restrictions were lifted around 3 pm.
Uttar Pradesh Police has deployed around 10 IPS officers and all senior police officials, including SSP, SP (city), SS (rural) all Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSPs) and among others at UP Gate (Gazipur Border). Protesters are expected to enter Delhi through NH-24.
Apart from the Uttar Pradesh Police, the Delhi Police has also taken preventive steps in view of the protest. The Delhi Police has closed both carriageways from Ghazipur flyover to UP border for all types of vehicles and no vehicular traffic is allowed on this stretch. This morning, hundreds of persons, who came in 10 buses from UP side, were initially stopped at Ghazipur Border.
“We initially didn’t allow some persons, who belonged to minority community, to enter Delhi. They wanted to enter Delhi for offering ‘namaz’ and after this, we allowed them to enter the region of National Capital,” said a senior UP Police officer. According to Delhi Police, traffic coming from Mother Dairy Road is also not being allowed on NH-24 and diverted towards Chand Cinema and Hindon canal.