The police began the process of removing barricades from the New Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border crossing at Ghazipur on Friday, shortly after officers aware of the matter said there could be efforts to evict the farmers from the protest site.

The process to reopen the border connecting New Delhi with Haryana for resumption of the movement of vehicles on at least one carriageway at Tikri began earlier on Thursday. It was not immediately clear when the border will be fully opened.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting at the Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders in outer and eastern Delhi against three farm laws since last November. The blockades there were put up following the violence during the farmers’ Republic Day rally.

Watch: Police start removing barricading from Tikri border, no relief for commuters yet

The movement of vehicles towards New Delhi from Ghaziabad has been blocked on all the carriageways on the Delhi-Meerut expressway as well as National Highway (NH) 24. Farmers have set up temporary tents and parked their tractor trolleys on these carriageways.

Police from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh have also installed barricades on the routes. The carriageways for the movement of vehicles towards Ghaziabad from Delhi are open on the expressway but closed on NH-24.

After the Republic Day rally violence, the Delhi Police put up multi-layered blockades at the three border protest sites by digging pits, placing iron nails, and positioning iron barricades as well as concrete barriers.

An officer said the Delhi Police personnel with the help of cranes will remove the concrete as well as iron barricades placed at Ghazipur to prevent the protesting farmers from entering the Capital. The process will be initiated to reopen the border and resume the normal movement of vehicles.

“Many senior police officers, including special commissioner of police (law and order, north zone) Deependra Pathak, will be visiting the Ghazipur border to assess the situation and maintain law and order during the removal of the blockades. They may also be having talks with their counterparts in Uttar Pradesh Police and the protesting farmers over resuming traffic on the roads,” the officer said.

A week ago, video clips surfaced on social media showing Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait and some farmers removing a tent at the Ghazipur border. Tikait was heard saying in the video that it was not the farmers but the Delhi Police who had blocked the roads by placing barricades.

On Thursday, the Delhi Police confirmed they were removing blockades from the Tikri border. The development came on a day three women farmers were killed and two others injured after a truck hit them near the Tikri border.

The Supreme Court last week told the agitating farmer unions that they are free to protest but should not block roads for that.