The concrete security barricades around the British high commission on Shanti Path and the residence of the high commissioner on Rajaji Marg in the capital were removed by the Union government on Tuesday night in what appears to be a retaliatory move after the Indian high commission in London was vandalised by Khalistani activists on Sunday.

There was no official word from either the external affairs ministry, Delhi police or the British high commission over this development. “The security arrangements outside the British high commission in the capital are intact. However, barricades placed on the pathway towards the commission that created hurdles for traffic have been removed,” a Delhi police source said.

Asked for a comment on the development and whether the high commission had been informed in advance about the removal of the security barricades, a spokesperson for the mission said: “We do not comment on security matters.”

Unlike the British high commission in Delhi, the Indian mission in London does not have any visible security presence. On Sunday, when the Khalistani supporters converged on the mission, one of them scrambled onto the upper floor to remove the Indian Tricolour.

Security has since been beefed up around the mission, and police were present on Monday when members of the Indian community turned up in a show of solidarity and again on Wednesday in view of a scheduled protest by Khalistan supporters. In December 2013, the Manmohan Singh government had removed the concrete security barriers outside the US embassy after Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade was arrested in New York for alleged visa fraud.