Volunteers of Swaraj Abhiyan, police clash at Jantar Mantar

A clash broke out when the police tried to disperse volunteers of Yogendra Yadav led Swaraj Abhiyan at Jantar Mantar, leaving nine persons, including three policemen injured.

The incident occurred last night when the volunteers were preparing for a 'tractor march' led by ex-Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav from Jantar Mantar.

The police said that they were removing the protesters who had been sitting at Jantar Mantar for a long time in view of security arrangements ahead of Independence Day. The protesters, however, claimed that they had sent an intimation to the Delhi police about the march.

"Some of the protesters became aggressive when they were being removed. Around 25-30 supporters of Yogendra Yadav intervened on behalf of those being removed. The policemen told them to go away as it was a security related matter but they did not relent following which there was scuffle," a senior police official said.

AAP Member of Legislative Assembly from Timarpur Pankaj Pushkar alleged that police used lathicharge and assaulted the workers but the police denied the charge. "Our men did not resort to lathicharge as was being alleged," the police official said.

The 'tractor march', which is part of the ongoing farmers' movement by Swaraj Abhiyan led by Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, started on Monday Pushkar said that members of Swaraj Abhiyan were busy with the preparations last night when at 11 pm few policemen including six men in civil clothes started dispersing protesters by resorting to lathicharge.

"I and Yogendra rushed to the spot in sic minutes to find six men in civil clothes who claimed to be policemen beating our volunteers. We caught hold of one of them and asked for his identity card but the man started pushing us.

"Suddenly on someone's instruction, these people started fleeing from the spot. In the scuffle, six of our volunteers were injured and are admitted in RML hospital," Pushkar said.

He said, "We had called the ACP and till now he has not been able to clarify who were the police personnel on."

Yadav expressed shock over the incident.

"Shocked! Policemen beat up our volunteers to bleed. 6 of them seriously injured. Admitted in RML hospital. Police telling blatant lies. These goons in civil dress under police protection attacked our volunteers at Jantar Mantar (sic)," Yadav tweeted on Sunday night.

Photograph: Swaraj Abhiyan