Metro stations near 7Race Course Road closed

NEW DELHI: Four metro stations near the Prime Minister's residence at 7 Race Course Road were shut for a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon as a precautionary measure following a call by Team Anna to supporters to take their protest there.

Udyog Bhawan, Race Course, Jor Bagh on the Gurgaon Line and Khan Market on the Badarpur corridor were closed at 3 pm and reopened only after 5 pm. "The metro stations were closed following orders from Delhi Police. The stations will be closed till further orders," a Delhi Metro spokesman said.

The four stations are close to 7 Race Course Road, the official residence of the prime minister. The decision was taken following apprehensions that the protesters from Ramlila Maidan could reach the PM's residence using the metro.

The move to close the stations came in the wake of Team Anna's call to people asking them to hold peaceful protests outside the prime minister's residence at 5 pm. Several people, in the meanwhile, were detained near the prime minister's residence, a high security zone, as they gathered to hold a demonstration.

The protesters, who came in small groups, were stopped by police near the prime minister's residence and were taken into custody. The protesters were bundled into DTC buses and were taken out from the high security area, police sources said.