Amid violent protests, Delhi police rescues over 200 stranded artists including children

Nearly 300 artists, including children, who were part of the Republic Day parade on Tuesday were rescued by Delhi Police after they got stranded near the Red Fort as the farmers' tractor parade turned violent and protesters broke barricades and stormed the Red Fort .

"There were around 300 artists including children at the Red Fort. As the situation developed, we provided them with food and shifted them to a safe place Daryaganj Mess," said DCP (North) Anto Alphonse.

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Farmers Tractor Rally turns violent

As India celebrated its 72nd Republic Day, the farmers' tractor rally which was planned on nine pre-decided routes turned violent at points. Some farmers forcibly entered Central Delhi, clashing with Delhi police and planted flags at the Red Fort. The entire area saw chaotic scenes for hours as the protesters threw stones at police and damaged vehicles. Police personnel tried to control the mob by baton-charging them and lobbing tear gas shells.

READ | Farmers Tractor Rally LIVE UPDATES: Red Fort Breached; 83 Police Personnel Injured

After 11 rounds of Centre-farmer talks, both failed to reach a mutual decision last week after a five-hour meeting with the associations refusing to agree to the Centre's proposal for suspending the implementation of the aforesaid legislation for one and a half years. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar categorically said that the Union government is ready for another meeting only if the farmers want to discuss this proposal. Thereafter, the protesting farmers had come to an agreement with the Delhi police to hold their Republic Day tractor rally peacefully. 

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The Delhi Police had permitted farmers to take out the tractor rally on three routes emanating from the Singhu border, the Tikri border, and the Ghazipur border covering 62 km, 60 km, and 46 km respectively. Darshan Pal, Rajinder Singh, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Buta Singh Burjgil, and Joginder Singh Ugraha were asked to coordinate with the police during the rally. Additionally, the Police mandated that a maximum of 5000 persons with 5000 tractors can participate in the Republic Day rally from noon to 5 pm. However, the rally took a violent turn after groups of farmers broke police barricades at the Delhi border to enter the national capital before the allocated time. 

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(With Agency Inputs)