Wrestlers vs WFI chief: Delhi Police tightens security as farmers head to support protesting grapplers
Indian wrestlers' protests against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh were expected to take an intense turn on Sunday, with farmers expected to join them. However, Delhi Police has tightened the security around the area.
FollowDelhi Police stepped up security arrangements at Jantar Mantar, where wrestlers are staging a sit-in, and in border areas of the city as hundreds of farmers were expected to visit the protest site on Sunday to extend support to the grapplers. Vehicles entering Delhi were checked, and pickets were increased at Delhi-Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu borders.
On Saturday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced a nationwide agitation to support the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. It said several senior leaders of SKM from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh will visit Jantar Mantar on Sunday with hundreds of farmers.
It also demanded the immediate arrest of Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by some women wrestlers. Elaborate security arrangements have been made at Jantar Mantar. Security forces have been deployed and activities at the protest site are monitored round the clock through CCTVs to ensure that no untoward incident occurs, a senior police officer said.
"We have taken adequate security measures to ensure that the protest at Jantar Mantar remains peaceful. CCTV surveillance is being done, and we have deployed adequate security personnel there. Those visiting the protest site are being checked thoroughly as part of preventive measures," he said. Multiple barricades have also been put in place at the protest site and the border areas of Delhi.
"We have intensified our patrolling in the border areas of Delhi, be it Ghazipur, Singhu or Tikri. We have also enhanced the number of pickets and are conducting intensive checking of vehicles," another senior officer said. On Thursday, a group of farmers coming to Delhi to visit Jantar Mantar was stopped by the police at the Singhu border, with officials saying 24 of them had been detained. The wrestlers have been protesting at Jantar Mantar since April 23. On April 28, Delhi Police registered two FIRs against Singh based on complaints filed by seven women wrestlers, including a minor.
