At the protest against the blockade, Sunday. (Express photo: Gajendra Yadav)

On the 50th day of the Shaheen Bagh protest, hundreds of residents from colonies in and around the area staged a protest at G D Birla Marg Sunday, saying the road blockade has increased their travel expenses.

Shouting slogans like ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko goli maaro saalon ko’, ‘Modi Modi’, ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Vande Mataram’, protesters marched towards barricades put up near the Shaheen Bagh protest site, before being removed by police. Around 50 were detained and taken to Badarpur in buses.

Jaiprakash Choubey (45), a coaching centre teacher in the area, said, “What kind of freedom is this wherein you can hijack public property? These people are supported by the tukde-tukde gang attached to Pakistan, Dubai, Jamia and JNU.”

Police said a few right-wing organisations requested to organise a protest demanding clearance of the blocked road. A senior police officer said they were denied permission and the anti-Shaheen Bagh protest was called off Saturday.

Chinmoy Biswal, who was DCP (South East) till Sunday evening, said the residents were stopped before they could reach the barricades and weren’t allowed to proceed further: “We requested them to disperse peacefully. They protested for some time and later left. Some were detained, but later released.”

Meanwhile, a day after a man opened fire near the Shaheen Bagh protest site, security was beefed up by locals and police. While police heavily barricaded all entry points, locals frisked everyone before letting them sit inside the tent.

A senior police officer said, “We had earlier put barricades at three spots near the site. After the incident, we deployed more police teams to check these spots and look out for anything suspicious.”

Biswal added, “We are taking care of the security and have sealed two major entry points on Road 13 A in the area. Police teams are also keeping a check on security from Kalindi Kunj.”