Thousands turn out for shobha yatra in city

Hanuman shobha yatra passed off peacefully here on Saturday, with thousands of devotees participating in processions taken out from different parts of the city.

The centralised procession along 12-km route organised by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal started from Gowliguda Ram Mandir around noon and reached Sri Tadbund Veeranjaneya Swamy in Secunderabad by 7.30 p.m.

The police had thrown a massive security cover, while they guarded all sensitive spots or concealed them using curtains to avoid drawing attention to them.

Hyderabad Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar told The Hindu that over 10,000 policemen were deployed for the purpose. He said the procession was captured in 410 high-definition surveillance cameras, which were placed every square yard on majority of trunk routes.

The shobha yarta passed through Andhra Bank Crossroads at Koti, Ram Kote crossroads, Narayanguda, Chikkadpally, RTC Crossroads, Kavadiguda, Ranigunj, Paradise Crossroads and reached the Hanuman temple at Tadbun, where maha aarti was performed.

Mr. Kumar, accompanied by the officials of various departments, including GHMC, HMWSSB, Disaster Response and Fire Services, monitored the procession from the command control room at Basheerbagh.

He said over 50,000 devotees took part in the shobha yatra and a senior cop was deployed for every 500 metres to monitor the situation.

He added that two companies of Rapid Action Force, each in South Zone and North Zone, were also deployed.