Hyderabad under thick security cover for Ganesh immersion

Hyderabad: Hyderabad will celebrate Ganesh immersion on Friday amidst a thick blanket of security across the city, especially at the immersion points, to thwart any untoward incident. The Hyderabad Police will deploy close to 20,000 personnel, while their counterparts in Rachakonda and Cyberabad will together deploy around 14,000 personnel for a smooth and incident-free Ganesh […]

Hyderabad: Hyderabad will celebrate Ganesh immersion on Friday amidst a thick blanket of security across the city, especially at the immersion points, to thwart any untoward incident.

The Hyderabad Police will deploy close to 20,000 personnel, while their counterparts in Rachakonda and Cyberabad will together deploy around 14,000 personnel for a smooth and incident-free Ganesh immersion.

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The entire immersion procession will be monitored from the Integrated Command and Control Centre at Banjara Hills and also from the offices of the local police commissionerates.

On Thursday, senior police officials briefed field-level officers about their roles. The police personnel accompanying the idols were given instructions about their role, while those on picket duties were briefed about their respective tasks. Pushing parties will be deployed wherever necessary to ensure the procession keeps moving.

“Special teams will be deployed to keep a check on trouble mongers and antisocial elements. Communal sensitive areas are divided into sectors and each will be headed by a senior police official,” Hyderabad Commissioner of Police CV Anand said.

The police will use drones to monitor the procession at select locations. At the immersion points, police and NDRF teams will be stationed to prevent any incidents of drowning.

The police are on high alert in view of the recent communal skirmishes in the city following the developments related to the alleged derogatory comments made by Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh against Prophet Mohammed and his subsequent detention under the PD Act.
“Police will be on vigil round the clock till the last idol is immersed. Monitoring is being done from the control rooms set up near the immersion points too,” Rachakonda Commissioner of Police Mahesh Muralidhar Bhagwat said.

Among important immersion points in the city are Saroornagar Tank, Kapra lake, Hayathnagar lake, IDP Kukatpally lake, Palle Cheruvu, Jalpally Tank, Shameerpet lake and a few other water bodies around the city.

The local police in the tri-commissionerates will be assisted by the Armed Reserve, Rapid Action Force, Telangana State Special Police, Octopus units and police from other districts of Telangana. The police will also utilise the services of local peace committees and National Cadets Corps.

The IT cell and Cybercrime sleuths will monitor social media platforms for defamatory or inflammatory posts and take action against anyone involved in rumour-mongering.