Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla chaired a meeting of Directors-General of Police and Chief Secretaries of all States on Sunday in view of the violence over the Agnipath scheme and the Bharat bandh call for Monday.
It is not clear which organisation had announced the country-wide protest to take place on Monday, but the police in several areas imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, prohibiting gatherings of more than four people at a time based on social media posts.
“No particular organisation is known to have called for a Bharat bandh, but as a preventive measure, we are taking all precautions by deploying additional forces,” said the DGP of one of the States on condition of anonymity. A senior official said that based on inputs provided by intelligence agencies, 35 WhatsApp groups have been blocked for spreading misinformation and “fake news” about Agnipath. A close watch was being kept on other social media platforms also, the official said.
