New Delhi: The farmers entered the forecourt of the fort, climbed its ramparts, and hoisted a religious flag on a mast outside. The police, wielding batons, managed to remove them from inside the fort. The violence started in the morning as farmers broke barricades and entered Delhi ahead of time. One of the key farmer groups has called off the tractor rally, accusing anti-social elements of being responsible for the violence.

As Delhi Police appealed to the protesters to maintain calm, violence broke out at central Delhi’s ITO, where the police headquarters is located. A farmer died as a tractor on way to the Old City overturned, the police said. The farmers started a sit-down protest, refusing to hand over the body for postmortem.

“We came here to deliver a message to the Modi government, our job is done. We will go back now,” one of the farmers said to reporters at the Red Fort. “We managed to reach the fort even though they tried to stop us. We will not stop till we reach our goal — the repeal of the three farm laws,” another farmer said.