The Ghaziabad Police said that the movement of traffic on the Delhi-Ghaziabad carriageway has been stopped as a precautionary measure keeping in view the farmers’ protest at the UP Gate.
Following the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which eight people, including four protesting farmers, were killed on Sunday, the Ghaziabad Police on Monday closed the UP-Gate border with Delhi as a precautionary measure. The UP-Gate is a major protest site for farmers protesting against central agricultural laws and the Ghaziabad-Delhi carriageway of the Delhi Meerut Expressway passing through the site has been closed since December last year.
Farmer leaders reached Lakhimpur Kheri from the UP-gate after they were allegedly crushed by a convoy of vehicles belonging to a Union minister on Saturday evening, after four farmers, who were part of a group opposing the central agricultural laws, were allegedly crushed. Police say that in retaliation, the farmers thrashed four people in a vehicle in the convoy to death. The incident has escalated tensions and created a lot of political heat over the matter. The farmers protesting at the UP Gate were also pained by this development.
The Ghaziabad Police said that the movement of traffic on the Delhi-Ghaziabad carriageway has been stopped as a precautionary measure.
“We have closed the expressway with the help of barricades and this has been done to maintain law and order. Barricading will continue and we will take stock of the situation before removing them. Travelers can enter Ghaziabad using the Anand Vihar-Kaushambi border and there are no restrictions. Our teams are in touch with the farmers protesting at the UP-gate and the situation is peaceful,” said Superintendent of Police Gyanendra Kumar Singh.