The Delhi Police have invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sedition charges in a case filed over the violence at Red Fort on Republic Day.

District administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad issued an ultimatum asking farmers to vacate the Ghazipur protest site by Thursday night. Earlier during the day, people claiming to be locals staged protests at Delhi’s Singhu border, asking farmers to vacate the area.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the farm laws.

Earlier, Delhi Police issued look out circulars against the farmer leaders who were named in a first information report registered in connection with the violence that broke out during the tractor parade on Republic Day. The leaders will also be asked to surrender their passports.

The police have alleged that farmer leaders made inflammatory speeches, and were involved in the violence during the tractor parade that left 394 of its personnel injured. Farmers, however, have denied the allegations, and blamed “antisocial elements” for the chaos.

Twenty-five criminal cases were filed in connection with the violence, and 19 persons have been arrested so far. The police have also detained around 200 protestors on charges of rioting, damaging public property and attacking its personnel.

Here are the top updates of the day:

11.07 pm: Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait says they will not vacate the protest site at the Ghazipur border, reports ANI. The sit-in protest is continuing at the border.

11.07 pm: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Naresh Tikait calls for holding a mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar on Friday, reports NDTV.

9.16 pm: Delhi Traffic Police say traffic has been closed at Ghazipur border and ask commuters to take an alternate route. They say traffic has been diverted from National Highway 24, National Highway 9, Road no 56 and 57 A, Kondli, Paper market, Telco T point, EDM Mall, Akshardham and Nizammudin Khatta.

9.13 pm: Members of Bhartiya Kisan Union’s Lok Shakti and Ekta factions meet Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, reports ANI. “We are also hurt by [the] Red fort incident,” says SS Bhati of the Lok Shakti faction. “The government has assured us that they’ll continue with commitments made during talks with farmers.”

9.04 pm: Samyukt Kisan Morcha says that it condemns the action of Uttar Pradesh Police to cut off basic facilities for the farmers protesting aginst the farm laws in Ghazipur. In a statement, the farmers’ body also condemned eviction of protestors in Palwal, Haryana.

It says the farmers’ union leaders took out a “Sadbhavna Yatra” at the Singhu border to counter the “divisive forces trying to divide the protesting farmers along religious line and as per states.” The body adds that 171 protesting farmers have so far died.

9.01 pm: Police serve notice to Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait and other farmers’ leader, directing them to clear the protest site in Ghaziabad, reports The Caravan. The police tell the magazine said they were imposing prohibitionary orders in the area.

7.54 pm: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Naresh Tikait says protest at Ghazipur will end tonight, while his brother Rakesh Tikait says he will continue with the agitation, reports ANI.

7.53 pm: Delhi Police says around 30 farmers at DDA Ground in Burari have moved towards Singhu border, as the protest at Burari is being cleared, reports ANI. Police has also detained around 15 farmers for their possible involvement in the violence during tractor rally on January 26.

7.14 pm: Delhi Police file a case under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and sedition in connection with the Red Fort violence on Republic Day, reports NDTV.

5.37 pm: Delhi Police deploys an earthmover to dig a road at Singhu border that connects Delhi to Haryana.

5.35 pm: District administration in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad issues ultimatum, ordering farmers to vacate Ghazipur protest site by tonight, reports The Indian Express.

Farmers will be evacuated forcefully if they do not vacate the site, reports The Hindu.

4.50 pm: West Bengal Assembly passes resolution demanding the withdrawal of the farm laws, reports PTI.

3.55 pm: Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar says some farmer organisations have ended their protest at Chilla border and Baghpat, reports ANI. Kumar says UP police has deployed spotters to look for “rowdy and anti-national elements”.

3.20 pm: People claiming to be locals stage protests at Singhu border asking farmers to vacate the area.

2.55 pm: Actor Deep Sidhu, who has been accused by farm leaders of instigating violence on Republic Day, denies the allegations against him, reports PTI. Sidhu accuses farmers of spreading false propaganda and hatred against him.

The actor claims he had nothing to do with what transpired at the Red Fort on January 26 when thousands of farmers stormed into the monument, and hoisted flags inside the complex.

2.54 pm: Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh says the party’s position on the farm laws remains unchanged, reports ANI. “Members of AAP have protested against the three black farm laws and will continue to do so, which is why AAP will boycott the president’s speech [in Parliament],” he adds.

2.49 pm: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blames the Narendra Modi government for the violence during the tractor rally on Republic Day, reports ANI. “ The farm laws have been passed forcibly,” she adds. “The Modi government has badly handled the situation in Delhi and the BJP is responsible for what happened there.”

2.47 pm: The West Bengal government tables resolution in the state Assembly against the three central farm laws, reports ANI.

2.45 pm: Heavy security arrangements have been made at the Singhu border as the police attempt to barricade a portion of the road to restrict protesting farmers from entering Delhi, reports ANI.

2.37 pm: The Delhi Police issue a notice to Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait asking him to explain as to why legal action should not be taken against him for allegedly breaching the agreement with police for the tractor rally, reports ANI. “You are also directed to provide names of the perpetrators of such violent acts belonging to your organisation,” the notice adds. “You are directed to submit your response within 3 days.”

2.04 pm: Delhi Police chief SN Shrivastava confirms that look out notices have been issued against farmer leaders named in an FIR filed in connection with the violence, PTI reports. The leaders include Rakesh Tikait, Yogendra Yadav and Medha Patkar.

2.00 pm: The Delhi Police put up a notice outside Bharatiya Kisan Union Spokesperson’s Rakesh Tikait’s tent at the Ghazipur border.

1.49 pm: Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal visits a hospital to meet the policemen injured during the Republic Day tractor march.

1.46 pm: Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, says 16 political parties will boycott the president’s address in the Parliament on Friday, ANI reports. “The major reason behind this decision is that the [farm] bills were passed forcibly in House, without Opposition,” he adds.

1.42 pm: A group of people gather at the Singhu border, demanding that protestors vacate the area, ANI reports.

1.04 pm: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday removed farmers who were protesting against the new farm laws at the Baghpat border, reports News18. Following the orders of the district magistrate and the superintendent of police, police personnel reached the protest site, and disbanded the agiaition that was taking place on National Highway 709b.

1.03 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah visits two hospitals in Delhi – Shushrut Trauma Centre and Teerath Ram Hospital – to enquire about the health of police personnel who were injured in the violence on Republic Day

12.50 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says it is unfortunate that violence broke out during farmers’ tractor rally on Republic Day, but adds that this would not end the movement against the three agricultural laws, reports PTI. “Whoever is responsible for it must be given strictest punishment,” he says.

12.47 pm: The Delhi Police on Wednesday alleged that farmer leaders made inflammatory speeches, and were involved in the violence during the tractor parade that left 394 of its personnel injured, reports PTI. At a press briefing, Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava said farmer unions did not follow conditions laid down for the rally, and had “betrayed” the police.

12.45 pm: The Delhi Police say they will issue look out circulars against farmer leaders who have been named in FIRs in connection with the violence that broke out during the tractor parade in the city on Republic Day, reports PTI. The farmer leaders will also be asked to surrender their passports, the police said.

The decisions were taken following a series of meetings chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah since Tuesday, when the violence broke out in the Capital after the farmers clashed with the police who used tear gas and batons on them.

Here are the top updates from Wednesday

  • Farmers’ groups protesting against the agricultural laws postponed their planned march to the Parliament on February 1, the day of the presentation of the Union Budget, in view of the violence during the Republic Day tractor rally.   
  • The Delhi Police said that it had filed 25 criminal cases in connection with the violence and arrested 19 people. They added that farmer leaders will be also be questioned.  
  • In one of the first information reports, the police named 37 farmer leaders, including Swaraj India President Yogendra Yadav and Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Haryana unit President Gurnam Singh Chaduni. 
  • The police have also detained around 200 protestors on charges of rioting, damaging public property and attacking its personnel.    
  • Several farmers’ bodies have blamed actor Deep Sidhu and gangster-turned-activist Lakha Sidhana for the violence at Red Fort.Sidhu conducted a Facebook Live from the site, where he is seen standing with the protestors. Another video shows other protesting farmers chasing him away, accusing him of damaging their cause.