A rally of more than 1,000 people marching towards the sit-in at New Market was stopped at Taltala on Sunday afternoon, some of the organisers of the sit-in have alleged.

The rally had police permission to reach the sit-in but rallyists found police barricades blocking them at Taltala on SN Banerjee Road, the organisers alleged.

“There was a large police contingent behind the barricades. I had spoken with police officers around 1pm and alerted them about the rally,” Amitava Chakraborty, a member of the Joint Forum against NRC, said.

The 12km-long chain passed through Gariahat, Park Circus, Mother House, and Moulali before reaching the five-point crossing at Shyambazar

The forum has organised the sit-in at New Market, demanding a rollback of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register.

“Officers said they had instructions from their superiors to stop the rally at Taltala,” Chakraborty said. It was a peaceful march and he could not understand why the police stopped them, he said.

A senior officer in Lalbazar asked The Telegraph to get in touch with another officer, calls to whom went unanswered.

Protesters at the sit-in had on Saturday alleged that the police had stopped them from bringing chairs to the venue. Some had said a scuffle had broken out between cops and some of the protesters over the matter.

“The police snatched the chairs and threw them away. I was scared if there would be a repeat of the police action on protesters in Delhi,” a woman had said on Saturday.