After the historic verdict of the Allahabad High Court on the Ayodhya title suits on Thursday, no untoward incident has been reported in the city so far. The way city has proved itself to be a part of a matured democracy is indeed commendable. Still the police will continue with their bandobast arrangements for another 72 hours as the department doesn’t want to take any chance. Pune Police commissioner Meera Borwankar was briefing the press conference on Thursday after the verdict.

Borwankar said, “The police had held a series of meetings with the Hindu and Muslim communities, political persons and others and appealed them to maintain peace. Everyone has responded positively to the appeals made by the police. This helped us maintaining law and order.”

She said, “The police are still holding meetings with both the communities and others. We have appealed them not to give any instant reaction which may hurt the religious sentiments of any community. If any reaction is to be given it should be a balanced one.”

Borwankar was satisfied with the precautionary measures taken by the Pune Police in order to avert any untoward happenings. She however refused to divulge any details and said that on the basis of the vital information about some evil elements likely to cause trouble, the special branch of police led by the deputy commissioner Makarand Ranade did the needful to control the situation.

She said, “We have held 516 meetings between September 18 and 29, including 194 at police station level, 286 at chowkie level, 27 at assistant commissioner levels and nine at deputy commissioner level.”

As many as 1,361 criminals and alleged trouble makers were arrested well in advance as a part of the preventive action. These people were detained and some of them were released on a good behavior bond. Some were given a warning not to create any trouble.

Actions like playing dhol-tashe or bursting firecrackers after the verdict were strictly prohibited. All the leaves of the police personnel were cancelled and they were made to work for 12 hours daily.

Borwankar admired the way the city accepted the verdict and cooperated with the police department in maintaining peace and communal harmony. The Police Commissioner has asked the citizens of Pune to offer cooperation in future as well.

Most of the owners of shops and malls in the city preferred to have an off yesterday. Very few vehicles were seen running on the roads. The city reacted to the verdict in an ideal manner and this is what is expected of a city that boasts to be the cultural capital of Maharashtra.

- Yogesh Sapre