The Delhi Police have deployed a large number of personnel and barricades at the ITO junction, one of the main junctions in the heart of the national capital. The police have also stationed containers filled with sand at the intersection. Also, paramilitary forces and the Delhi Police are present at the ITO junction.
The proactive security measures come in the wake of a planned march by thousands of farmers from neighbouring states to Delhi, who is demanding the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops.
Although a tight security arrangement is already in place at the borders of Delhi, this time the police are leaving no stone unturned in the security of central Delhi too, and it is done as an alternative plan to the original plan of stopping them at the borders if they manage to enter Haryana and march towards Delhi from Punjab. The ITO junction was the site of violent clashes between the police and the farmers on January 26, 2021, when the country was celebrating Republic Day, when some protesters deviated from the agreed routes and stormed into the city centre. One farmer died, and more than 300 police officers were injured in the confrontation. Some protesters also breached the historic Red Fort and hoisted flags on its ramparts.
