Police on Sunday said a deputy superintendent was among four police personnel injured in clashes with Jat protestors on their way to Delhi on Sunday, PTI reported. A protestor, however, said a few agitators were also injured during the clash when police allegedly threw tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. The clash occurred in Dhani Gopal village on the Sirsa-Hisar Delhi National Highway.

Authorities on Sunday imposed restrictions on traffic movement within the Delhi-National Capital Region in view of the Jat agitation scheduled for Monday. Metro operations outside Delhi’s city limits have also been restricted. The Centre has deployed 247 companies (approximately 24,700 personnel) of paramilitary forces in Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, PTI reported.

Advertisement

Led by the All-India Jat Aarakshan Sangarsh Samiti, an estimated 50 lakh protesters plan on staging a demonstration in Delhi and laying a “siege” to the Parliament House complex, NDTV reported. Earlier on Sunday, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar urged Jat protesters to hold a dialogue with Minister of State for Law and Justice PP Chaudhury in attendance at Haryana Bhavan, ANI reported.

On Saturday, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was imposed in several areas in Haryana. The restrictions were imposed in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Bhiwani and Hisar, among other districtss. Section 144 prohibits the assembly of four or more people at a location. Internet services were also suspended in the sensitive districts of the state.

The Jat community wants reservation in education and government jobs under the other backward classes category. The movement had led to violent agitations in February 2016, when thousands of Jats had blocked highways and burnt public properties worth crores. At least 30 people had died and more than 300 others had been injured during the agitation between February 18 and 23 last year. Several protesters were arrested for the violence.

Those spearheading the movement not only want the government to grant them reservation but have also demanded that the protesters who had been arrested be freed and cleared of charges. They have also asked the state government to provide jobs to family members of those who had been killed during the protests.