New Delhi: The Delhi Police has placed orders for more than 30,000 tear gas shells, an official said, as the force prepares to prevent Punjab farmers from entering the national capital under their ‘Dilli Chalo’ protest. Hundreds of farmers marching from Punjab have been stopped at the state’s border with Haryana near Ambala, about 200 kilometers away from Delhi. Haryana security forces have used tear gas on them to try and disperse them.
A Delhi Police source said they are determined to not let the protesters enter the national capital should they advance. As part of the preparation, the Delhi Police has already stocked up a large number of tear gas shells and ordered 30,000 more from the BSF’s Tear Smoke Unit (TSU) located at Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, an official said.
The freshly ordered shells are being brought to Delhi from Gwalior, he said. A tear gas shell is an anti-riot equipment which is used by security forces to disperse crowd. An officer said that given the farmers’ protest, the fresh stock may be distributed to the outer, outer-north and east district police — under whose jurisdiction the potential protest sites in the national capital fall.
The Delhi Police has made all logistical arrangements to stop the farmers at the Singhu (Sonipat side), Tikri (Bahadurgarh side) and Ghazipur (Ghaziabad side) borders. The personnel deployed at the borders have been strictly asked to ensure not a single farmer or their tractor-trolley enters into the jurisdiction of the national capital.
On the farmers who have gathered near the Shambhu border between Punjab and Haryana near Ambala, the Haryana police have also used tear gas shells, some of which they air-dropped through drones on protesting farmers.
The farmers seek to march to the national capital to press the Centre to agree to their various demands including a legal guarantee on Minimum Support Price of crops, implementation of the Swaminathan Committee report, loan waiver among others.
