New Delhi: Shia protesters led by cleric Kalbe Jawad on Wednesday continued with their agitation against acquisition of Karbala land in Jor Bagh area, which led to nightmarish experience for travellers as traffic was thrown out of gear across the city.
Traffic snarls were witnessed on National Highway- 24, Nirman Vihar, Preet Vihar, Shakarpur, Akshardham, Yamuna bridge, Vikas Marg, Tilak Marg, Feroz Shah road as they were either closed by the police or were jammed by the protesters.
The protest began in the afternoon when protesters blocked NH-24 near Mandavali police station where Jawad along with 300 of his supporters were held after being detained yesterday.
Relenting to their demand, police then allowed them to march toward central Delhi. But as the protesters reached ITO and staged a demonstration outside Delhi police headquarters, police closed arterial roads in the New Delhi district.
ITO was choked which led to a ripple effect and jam-packed traffic scenes were witnessed on Vikas Marg and Outer Ring Road. As the protesters moved toward Mandi House, vehicular movement on Tilak Marg was also stopped.
Copernicus Marg and Bhagwan Dass road were also closed for a while until protesters could reach Feroz Shah Road which was barricaded with strong police presence as they wanted to stop the march there in order to stop them from entering the VIP`s New Delhi area.
However, a confrontation was avoided as protesters decided to disperse after Kalbe Jawad called off the protest at around 5 PM, following which traffic could be normalised.
After Kalbe Jawad was released this morning, he held a press conference outside the police station and called upon his supporters to boycott the Congress party in Lok Sabha elections.
