New Delhi:
High drama ensued well past midnight at the VIP gate of Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Thursday when a group of people, claiming to be Anna Hazare's supporters, clashed with policemen and dismantled barricades.
According to an eyewitness, the group of about seven to eight men, reportedly drunk, got into a tiff with some policemen deployed at the rear gate of the maidan around 3 am. They heckled the policemen and hit them with sticks when stopped from opening the iron gate, being used as VIP gate.
"A group of people argued with policemen and then tried to flung open the gate of the maidan," a police officer deployed at the agitation site said requesting anonymity.
The group brought down barricades and shouted slogans as the policemen tried to persuade them to go away.
A senior Delhi Police official soon arrived at the spot and a platoon of the CRPF personnel was also called in to control the group. Four Police Control Room (PCR) vans reached the spot after 20 minutes.
Following the incident, security has been increased at the VIP gate.