CPI(M) delegation stages sit-in outside Noida DM’s residence

A delegation of CPI(M) leaders staged sit-in protests twice in Noida on Friday, after they were stopped from meeting families of workers detained following agitations earlier this week. The delegation, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M A Baby, reached Noida on Friday morning, days after protests demanding fair wages and better working conditions turned violent, leading to a police crackdown and arrests. However, police initially stopped them at the Delhi-Noida border, citing a “tense situation” and denying permission for “political persons” to proceed. The leaders then held a roadside sit-in, without blocking traffic. “We had two bouts of sit-ins. First, when we were stopped at the Noida border by the additional commissioner, they said the DM cannot meet you, the situation is tense and we cannot allow political people to go any further,” Baby said.

Baby was accompanied by Lok Sabha MP Amra Ram, Rajya Sabha MPs V Sivadasan, A A Rahim and the party’s Politburo member Arun Kumar. They were later joined by Delhi CPI(M) leaders Anurag Saxena and Pushpendra Tyagi, as well as Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas. Baby said police then assured them that the district magistrate (DM) would meet them, but they were taken to a police camp instead.