Bandh, Rahul visit keep B'luru police on toes

It turned out be a hectic day for the Bengaluru police on Monday due to the Karnataka bandh, the visit of Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi for the release of commemorative edition of National Herald.

The entire police force and reserve forces were on duty to ensure law and order and smooth vehicular flow. About 2,000 policemen, including the city police, KSRP and CAR platoons, were pressed into service. Though the bandh did not affect the city’s life and passed off peacefully, the police did not take any chances and deployed forces till late evening. There was heavy concentration of the police force in the central business district as Kannada organisations took out a procession from Town Hall while the event to mark relaunch of
National Herald was held at Vasanthnagar.

“The bandh failed to evoke any response, while there was less congestion on roads. All DCPs and ACPs personally supervised security arrangements and visited sensitive areas like Gandhinagar, Srirampuram, KR Puram, Old Madras Road and Electronics City,” said a senior police officer. “Though the police had to be on their toes on roads, the situation was by and large peaceful and no violent incidents were reported. Peace and harmony are more important  for us than working additional hours,” he said.