Police have prohibited sit-ins, demonstrations, agitations, strikes, and burning of effigies at three popular protest spots in Bhopal for the next two months without designating any alternative place.
Bhopal police commissioner Sanjay Kumar declared Polytechnic Square, Akashvani Square, Kilol Park Square, and the stretches between them as restricted zones for protests under Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) Section 163.
In the order issued on Monday, Kumar said these intersections lie on the main road leading to important places like the airport, Hamidia Hospital and Gandhi Medical College. It added that it is the only convenient route and there is no alternative. “Frequent applications are received from communities, organisations, political parties, committees and delegations to hold dharna, protest, demonstrations, agitations and effigy burning at Polytechnic Square, which disrupts traffic and causes severe inconvenience to the public.
The order cited the movement of emergency services like ambulances and fire brigades and VIPs and VVIPs and said the agitations, protests and demonstrations could endanger the lives of patients due to delays. It added that, therefore, it appears necessary to declare the area as a restricted zone.
