With west UP on the boil, cops prepare security plan

LUCKNOW: With barely a month left for the kanwar yatra to begin, the ongoing communal tension in West UP has senior police officers to sit up and take note. They are now busy preparing a plan to check communal tension from flaring up during the yatra.

Superintendents of police of all the districts have been directed to crack down on the anti-social elements. On Friday ADG (Law and Order) DS Chawdhary will review a law and order in a meeting of the district police officers in Meerut. UP police has also sought assistance from Uttarakhand police. Chawdhary will attend a meeting in Dehradun on Saturday to chalk out a plan for the kanwar yatra, an annual pilgrimage during the month of Shrawan when thousands of pilgrims offer holy Ganga water at Shiva temples located in various parts of the state.

A senior police officer said, “Over 2.50 crore kanwariyas are expected to enter UP from Uttarakhand to offer Ganga water collected from Haridwar at Shiva temples located in West UP.” Lakhs of kanwariyas are expected to visit Pipeleshwar Mahadeo temple (Meerut), Kashi Vishwanath temple (Varanasi), Nageshwar temple (Faizabad), Naimisharanya temple (Sitapur), Sidhagopal temple (Bareilly), Nageshwar Nath temple (Faizabad), Lodheswar Mahadeo temple (Barabanki), Mankmeshwar temple (Lucknow) and Bhadeshwar temple (Basti).

IG (Law and Order) A Satish Ganesh said, “Though Shrawan starts on August 1, the first auspicious Monday will be on August 3 when large number of devotees will visit Shiva temples. We are monitoring the situation in West UP regularly and instructions have been issued to police officers to take precautionary measures for maintaining law and order during the yatra.”

A senior police officer added, “To normalise the situation before the start of Shrawan, the superintendents of police have been directed to constitute committees comprising influential person from both the committees. The officers have been told to hold the meetings of peace committees regularly. Extra police force would be deployed in the sensitive districts,” he said.

To recall, on Thursday members of two communities clashed in Bijnore over installation of loudspeaker on a temple in Chandpur and Noorpur villages. Police force was deployed in the village.

While on Sunday, members of two communities clashed in Rampur Maniharan town in Saharanpur district over an eveteasing incident. One person was killed and half dozen were injured in the clash. Though extra police force had been deployed in the area but the tension prevails in the town.

Earlier, members of two communities clashed in Bhumma village in Muzzafarnagar district after four motorcycle-borne assailants allegedly shot Satveer, 25, outside his house. Later the police nabbed the killers. Communal clashes were also reported in Shamli and Moradabad districts.

ON FRIDAY ADG (LAW AND ORDER) DS CHAWDHARY WILL REVIEW A LAW AND ORDER IN A MEETING OF THE DISTRICT POLICE OFFICERS IN MEERUT. UP POLICE HAS ALSO SOUGHT ASSISTANCE FROM UTTARAKHAND POLICE