Tension mounts in Old City

Tension mounts in Old City

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad: The Old City of Hyderabad remained tense for the second consecutive day on Friday with three incidents of attacks and counter attacks reported since late Thursday night. Almost coinciding with the UNESCO team’s Charminar visit to inspect the monument for the World Heritage tag was heavy sloganeering from both the communities even as the police beefed up its presence around the Old City and even barricaded Charminar from Gulzar Houz onwards.
    On Thursday night, two boys aged 14 and 18 were attacked at Afzalgunj and on Friday a 25-year-old was stabbed at Engine Bowli. Two vehicles, including one of Mirchowk assistant commissioner of police were also damaged. The police however remained tight-lipped about the stabbing incidents and government hospitals did not confirm any such admissions. The police remained vigilant and was posted in large numbers across all sensitive areas of the Old City. As many as 14 platoons of armed police and 2 companies of RAF were posted across the area.
    On Friday, residents had sensed trouble since morning when they woke up to unusual heavy security and bandobast in the Old City. Shops along the Gulzar Houz-Charminar and Gulzar Houz-Kali Kaman Road were shut. Shops pull down shutters in Old City
Hyderabad: Trouble started when a large group gathered at the Bhagyalakhshmi temple around 12.15 pm and performed puja followed by a parikrama of the temple while indulging in much sloganeering for about 15 minutes before the police dispersed the crowd to ensure the Friday prayers at Mecca Masjid went smoothly.
    But by 1.30 pm, the situation was tense again as people started leaving the Mecca Masjid after the prayers and a group assembled at the entrance of the mosque waiting for AIMIM MLAs Ahmed Pasha Quadri and Mumtaz Khan who were offering prayers at the mosque.
    The group started sloganeering as soon as they spotted the MLAs but the police dispersed this crowd too. But tension continued building up with people following Mumtaz Khan’s vehicle to his residence near Charminar bus stop.
    However, the police and RAF platoons dispersed the crowd thus preventing the group from entering sensitive areas such as Lal Darwaza and Haribowli.
    Sloganeering continued till Friday evening when the Bhagyalakshmi temple undertook an a a r t i. Many shopkeepers rolled downed their shutters fearing trouble and said the police had ordered them to shut their business establishments by 8 pm. However, police officials maintained that no such orders were given.
    The Old City has remained tense through the week with trouble starting soon after Bakrid celebrations over the last weekend.
    The police picked up eight people from both communities for questioning and placed 33 police nakas across South Zone to prevent stabbing incidents.

MIM MLAs Pasha Quadri and Mumtaz Khan at the protest site after Friday prayers in Old City