Farmers 'armour' up to resume Delhi march, Haryana asks Punjab to seize bulldozers

Haryana Police on Tuesday asked its Punjab counterparts to seize bulldozers which they say protesting farmers from Punjab have brought with them as they plan to resume their 'Delhi Chalo' from the interstate border.

The farmers were set to begin their march again on Wednesday from two points on the Punjab-Haryana border after the failure of four rounds of talks with the Centre over a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops.

Thousands of farmers, who began the march to Delhi on February 13, were stopped at the Haryana border itself, where they clashed with security personnel. The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri points on Punjab's border with Haryana since then.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday orally asked the Punjab government not to allow the farmers to gather in large numbers.

The court observed that tractor-trolleys cannot be run on highways according to the Motor Vehicles Act and said the farmers can go to Delhi by bus or using public transport.

Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapoor, in an urgent communication to his Punjab counterpart Gaurav Yadav, asked Punjab Police to seize all bulldozers and earthmoving equipment acquired by farmers camping at the two border points to damage barricades.

He said such equipment may pose a threat to security forces and the owners of such equipment should be strictly warned against providing them to the protesting farmers as it would "amount to a criminal act".

"It is reliably learnt that heavy earthmoving equipment including proclain (digger), JCB etc., that have been further modified/armour-plated have been acquired by protesting farmers and have been deployed at the border locations where the protesters are camping right now.

"These machines are meant to be used by the protesters to damage the barricades thereby posing serious danger to the police and paramilitary forces deployed on duty and is likely to compromise the security scenario in Haryana," Kapoor said in his communication.

Though the farmers are still over 200 km from the national capital, Delhi Police on Tuesday conducted drills to ensure that its heavily barricaded entry points are not breached.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Jimmy Chiram said there is sufficient deployment of the force, besides paramilitary personnel, at the Delhi-Haryana border.

Another officer said Delhi Police is prepared to stop the farmers at the city borders. Security personnel have been directed to not allow even a single protester or vehicle to enter the capital, he said, adding that mock security drills were conducted during the day.

Officials said areas around the national capital's three border points might witness traffic congestion on Wednesday due to road closures.

Tikri and Singhu -- two points on the Delhi-Haryana border -- are sealed with heavy deployment of police personnel and multiple layers of concrete barricades and iron nails.

If required, the Ghazipur border might also be shut on Wednesday, an official said.

Delhi Police has already stocked up 30,000 tear gas shells.

Also Watch: Farmers' protest: Delhi Police on alert at borders ahead of planned march