Ghaziabad administration had given an ultimatum to farmers protesting against the new farm laws to vacate the UP Gate protest site by Thursday night.
Hundreds of members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) refused to leave and stayed put on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway early on Friday despite the Ghaziabad administration’s order to vacate the UP Gate protest site.
A clash was building up at the UP Gate in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh as the protest site witnessed frequent power cuts in the evening where BKU members led by Rakesh Tikait are staying put since November 28. A police official told the Press Trust of India, “The tension was building at UP Gate due to excessive deployment of force since Thursday evening.”
Ghaziabad District Magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey and Senior Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani came to the site for a post-midnight review of the situation even as hundreds of security personnel in anti-riot gears were deployed since Thursday.
Tikait remained at the center stage at 1:00 am (local time) of the protest site and around 500 protestors stayed put, which has been barricaded from both sides, prohibiting regular traffic movement. Farmers from Western Uttar Pradesh also joined the early morning stir even while most security forces left overnight.
Following official instructions, many personnel, including those from the Provincial Armed Constabulary and the Rapid Action Force left the site in the dead of the night.
Earlier, while speaking to the media Tikait said: “I will commit suicide but won’t end protest until the farm bills are repealed.”
