Tiruchi, September 7, 2013: After holding meetings with religious minorities in the last two days, the City Police on Friday organised a meeting with members of various Hindu organisations with the twin objectives of seeking their cooperation for the smooth conduct of Vinayaka idol processions and driving home the guidelines to be followed for installing the idols and norms to be adhered to while taking out rallies.

At the hour-long interactive session, Commissioner of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav made it clear that there would be no deviation in the procession route specified last year. Permission would be accorded to install idols in the same spots as in last year, he added.

Stating that the police would provide bandobust on the day when processions were to be taken out, Mr. Yadav called upon the participants to constitute committees in their respective places to provide protection for the idols.

He suggested to the participants to explore the possibility of putting up CCTV cameras in sensitive areas where the idols were to be installed. The Vinayaka Chathurthi festival falls on September 9 and the idol processions will be taken out here on September 11.

He asked the participants to ensure that outsiders did not intrude into the procession routes and alert the police in case they noticed any unidentified objects near the spots where the idols were to be installed.

Appealing to the organising committees not to deviate from the permitted routes, Mr. Yadav requested the participants to complete the immersion of idols as early as possible. He said that there should be no delay in the processions and sought their cooperation for smooth conduct of the festival.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Abhinav Kumar and police officers of various ranges took part in the meeting.

Source: The Hindu, September 7, 2013