Bajrang Dal exposes city cops’ ineptness

Hyderabad: The incident of a group of Bajrang Dal activists raising anti- Valentine’s Day slogans and ransacking several shops, malls and commercial establishments at Gachibowli, Madhapur and Kothaguda areas falling under Cyberabad commissionerate on Friday, raises concerns on the safety aspects in the area. They fall in the highly-secured IT corridor, which is frequented by foreign delegates at regular intervals.

The police department's lack of preparedness to handle such untoward activities has been exposed, all over again. One should take into account that Bajrang Dal and other affiliated organisations have been cautioning and threatening to foil Valentine’s Day events and yet the police did not take suitable preventive measures to nip it in the bud. Though not many incidents were reported, youngsters claimed that out of fear of mod-frenzy from past experiences, they preferred to stay indoors and make it a low-key affair.

Though five people were arrested on Saturday, almost 24 hours into the incident, the question is how they could go on a rampage without being stopped by patrolling teams and police personnel posted in the vicinity. Ironically, police are on vigil across Telangana State due to the ongoing CAA protests, and yet this particular group managed to indulge in arson in the State capital. Shockingly even after videos went viral, Cyberabad police were clueless. It was only such videos exposed their ‘failure’ that police got into action.

From the top brass and ground-level officers to patrolling teams and blue colts were aware of such a ruckus. Simply put, the police has failed to put in place an apparatus to foil such exigencies about which the administration was forewarned.

Further leaving many people embarrassed police who could not control the vandals, were seen questioning youngsters in many parts of the city about where they were going. Women in many areas moving out on Friday faced this situation. In places like Necklace Road, Tank Bund and other popular hangout spots, police were seen driving away couples and even youngsters.