Ram Navami: Hyderabad Police to set up surveillance, deploy special forces as precautionary measure

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], April 5 (ANI): As a precautionary measure ahead of the scheduled Shobha Yatra for Ram Navami, the Hyderabad police is gearing up to set up special surveillance at places where the main and smaller processions are expected to intersect.
The Hyderabad police remain insistent on maintaining continuous surveillance while suggesting the deployment of special additional forces, especially in "problematic areas around religious places".
Director General of Police (DGP) and Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand held a video conference with the police officers recently, suggesting all officers and staff in the city remain alert until the festivities for Ram Navami conclude.
"Special surveillance be set up at the intersection where the main procession and smaller processions connect. Special additional forces be deployed in problematic areas around religious places and that continuous surveillance be maintained," police officials decided in the meeting.
"As a precautionary measure, all officers and staff, all Zonal Control Room officers, and Special Branch officers in the city should be alert from now on. Special attention must also be paid to pickpockets and chain snatchers," the Hyderabad police said.
Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raja Singh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy requesting the unhindered conduct of the Shri Ram Navami Shobha Yatra scheduled for April 6, 2025. The yatra will start from Akashpuri Hanuman Mandir in Dhoolpet and will conclude at HVS Public School in Sultan Bazar, within Singh's Goshamahal Constituency.
In his letter, Raja Singh emphasised that the yatra, which he has been leading since 2010, has always been peaceful, with no incidents disrupting the harmony of Hyderabad. The statement reads, "I have been leading this Shobha Yatra since 2010, and in all these 15 years, not a single incident has disturbed the peace of Hyderabad. Every year, lakhs of Ram Bhakts participate in the yatra with devotion and discipline."
However, Singh expressed concerns over the Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand's recent actions, which involve imposing restrictions on the use of sound systems during the event, citing Supreme Court rules on sound pollution.
The statement reads, "However, this year, I am being pressured by the Hyderabad Police Commissioner, CV Anand, through ACP and DCPs, citing Supreme Court rulings on sound pollution to restrict the use of sound systems during the yatra."
He also questioned, "If so, why is noise pollution heard five times a day, 12 months a year across the city without any restrictions?"
Singh also pointed out the "selective enforcement" of these rules. (ANI)