Police bolster security on borders, inside city as farm protests set to resume today

The Delhi Police on Tuesday bolstered security arrangements at the three main borders Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur-apart from the others adjoining Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from where farmer groups are expected to enter the Capital to press for their demands as they resume their march on Wednesday after the fourth round of talks with the government ended in a deadlock on Sunday night.

- Hemani Bhandari

Senior officers said security forces have made elaborate arrangements since February 13, when the farmers first announced their march to the Capital, and that they were sprucing up the preparations.

The Delhi Police imposed sweeping security restrictions at the time, hampering traffic movement in parts of the Capital, particularly between Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, though the farmers were locked in a tussle on the Punjab-Haryana border 200km away.

On Wednesday, over 2,000 security personnel are expected to man the Singhu border where the first layer of barricading includes rows of enormous jersey barriers with protruding nails, iron barricades lined with strings of concertina wires, dumper trailers packed with sand, apart from cranes and earthmovers. Several shipping containers have been parked at the site since February 13, and security personnel with riot gear, tear gas shells and the Delhi Police's riot vehicle VAJRA have also place.