The nails fixed on the ground near the farmers’ protest site at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border are not being removed but repositioned for the convenience of the public who may be crossing some spots, Delhi Police clarified on Thursday, 4 February after visuals suggesting that the nails were being removed emerged.
"Videos and photos are being circulated which show that nails are being taken off in Ghazipur. These are just being repositioned. Position of arrangement at the border remains the same," news agency ANI quoted the Delhi Police.
Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar added that “measures taken in view of law and order situation remain.”
After violence at the Republic Day tractor rally last week, images of a fortified Ghazipur Border surfaced as the police installed iron spikes and wooden boards with big nails cemented onto the roads. Rows of barricades, barbed wire fences have been placed and trenches have also been dug to prevent the farmers from entering the national capital.
On Thursday, 15 MPs from 10 Opposition parties, including Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal, tried to visit the Ghazipur protest site to meet the protesters. However, Badal informed that they were stopped by police, NDTV reported.
Several other Delhi-UP and Delhi-Haryana borders have continued to remain shut for traffic due to ongoing farmers' agitation against the BJP-government’s contentious agricultural laws. Protesting farmers have announced a chakka jam to block all state and national highways for three hours on 6 February, in a bid to make their voices heard.
(With inputs from NDTV and ANI.)
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