Wrestlers protest: Delhi Police tightens vigil at Jantar Mantar, city borders

New Delhi: A day after a scuffle between agitating wrestlers and police personnel, the police Thursday beefed up security and surveillance at Jantar Mantar and at Delhi borders, deploying additional manpower, bolstering CCTV coverage and raising barricades to prevent the entry of farmers who were coming to support the grapplers.

The late night ruckus on Wednesday at Jantar Mantar left injured two wrestlers, and according to the police five of their personnel as well. Amid the high-drama, the wrestlers had appealed to farmers and their leaders to come to the protest site this morning.

Police said as a precautionary measure barricades have been put up at several locations across the city to ensure no untoward incident precipitates.

Officials said on Thursday they had inputs that a large number of people including farmers could be heading to Jantar Mantar, and therefore all the 15 police districts heads were instructed to be on alert, especially in the border areas.

They were asked to take special care of roads that go towards Central Delhi, which houses Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site in the city.

Notwithstanding the tight police vigil, a large number of people from different walks of life including Delhi University students and farmers from neighbouring states reached there to express solidarity with the wrestlers, who have been demanding the resignation of wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexually harassing female grapplers.

However, a group of farmers coming to Delhi was stopped by the police at the Singhu border, with officials saying 24 of them were detained and their vehicles were kept at a police station.

In the aftermath of last night's incident, police had initially denied entry to media personnel as well at Jantar Mantar. But later, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Pranav Tayal said there was no restriction on individual entry.

A special vehicle of Delhi Police -- Ikshana -- which is a live CCTV surveillance vehicle has been deployed at the site to monitor law and order arrangements. This vehicle is equipped with eight state-of-the-art fixed cameras for a 360-degree view of the site.

"The angles of the already installed CCTV cameras are being adjusted so that there is a clarity on the activities at the protest site in Jantar Mantar. Damaged CCTV cameras were also replaced with new ones so as to keep a 24X7 watch on the activities at the spot," a senior police officer said.

According to police, as a precautionary measure, barricades have been put up at several locations across Delhi to ensure no untoward incident takes place.

Police have also intensified patrolling at the borders with deployment of extra force and pickets. They have been checking vehicles at city border points to stop a large gathering at Jantar Mantar.

Explaining the sequence of events that unfolded at Jantar Mantar last night, Tayal told reporters, "Wrestlers have been sitting at Jantar Mantar for the past few days. Yesterday (Wednesday) Somnath Bharti (AAP MLA) came to the Jantar Mantar barricade along with a vehicle full of folding cots without any permission. When our police team asked him not to bring any cots inside, some of the wrestlers and the supporters intervened.

"In the process, a scuffle broke out in which about five of our staffers were injured. Of those who sustained injuries, two were females. Allegations have been levelled by the protesters that one of our staff members was in a drunken condition. An MLC (medico-legal case) of the particular staff was conducted which revealed that alcohol was not present in his blood," he added.

According to protestors, two wrestlers Rahul Yadav and Dushyant Phogat were also injured. Phogat has received head injuries.

Police had last night also detained Rajya Sabha MP Dipendra Hooda and chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Swati Maliwal who had reached the spot to support the wrestlers. Both of them were released later.

The wrestlers have been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar since April 23. They have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradesh.