Group of protesters come to the rescue of a cop during farmers’ protest. Watch

Farmers’ protest, which has been lauded for being largely peaceful past 62 days, plunged into chaos on Tuesday as thousands of protesters entered Delhi on their tractors, cranes and trucks, breaking barricades and clashing with police at various places.

Two sides of the protest were seen in central Delhi’s ITO area, where a policeman can be seen being taken away to safety by a group of protesters after another group tried to attack him. In a video tweeted by news agency ANI, the cop is seen being helped to a safe place by a bunch of protesters.

Authorities had agreed to let the farmers stage a tractor rally as long as they waited for the official Republic Day parade to finish. Farmers started gathering along Delhi’s borders from 8 am and soon hundreds of tractors could be seen rolling into Delhi.

They knocked down barricades at Singhu and Tikri points along Delhi-Haryana border and clashed with police before proceeding towards central Delhi. Another group that reached ITO, attacked the buses that had been used as barricades and clashed with police.

Tens of thousands of farmers have camped on the outskirts of the capital since November, protesting against new laws which deregulate produce markets.

Union leaders say the laws will allow private Indian conglomerates to take over the agriculture industry — the rockbed of the economy — and replace a system of purchases by the government at guaranteed prices.