There was a heavy deployment of police personnel around the Congress headquarters and the Enforcement Directorate office here ahead of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi's questioning in the National Herald case.
As the police anticipated that Congress workers might take a protest march from the party headquarters, they placed several barricades on the road to stop the protesters from moving towards the ED office.The barricades were placed en route from 24 Akbar road to the ED Office, Paryawaran Bhawan, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam road.
The police personnel in heavy numbers, along with paramilitary force and rapid action force teams were deployed at several points to avoid any untoward incident.Delhi Traffic Police have also issued an advisory asking the people to avoid certain roads on Thursday.
"Kindly avoid Motilal Nehru Marg, Akbar Road, Janpath & Man Singh Road between 9.00 a.m. to 2 p.m. Due to special arrangements traffic movement will not be possible on these roads," the advisory read.It also asked people to avoid Gol Methi junction, Tughlak Road Junction, Claridges Junction, Q-point Junction, Sunehri Masjid Junction, Maulana Azad Road Junction & Man Singh Road Junction during the same time as mentioned above.
The police also said that due to special traffic arrangements, inward movement of buses will be restricted in New Delhi beyond Gol Dak Khana Junction, Patel Chowk, Windsor Place, Teen Murti Chowk, Prithviraj Road.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh alleged that Delhi Police are preventing media from entering the Congress party headquarters from early hours. "This high-handedness was only to be expected and reflects the mindset of the Modi Sarkar," the Congress leader tweeted.
However, denying the allegations, Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrutha Guguloth said that there were no such restrictions. "Media is allowed at 24 Akbar Road," she said.Last month the Congress workers carried out a widespread protest during the questioning of their leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate.