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Outreach programmes helped maintain peace in Aurangabad: Top cop

AURANGABAD: The series of outreach programmes undertaken by the community police have helped the cops maintain peace and harmony among different communities in the city, which is known to be one of the most communally sensitive regions in the state, during the verdict on the disputed site in Ayodhya .

Considering the city’s past of communal tensions, including the riots that rocked the city on May 11, 2018 at Rajabazar – Nawabpura, and a series of other issues, authorities at the state police headquarters as well as the intelligence machinery were concerned about the city’s reaction to the outcome of Ayodhya verdict .

Aurangabad was among the few places in the state that was under the scanner of the director-general of police’ office.

“Personally speaking, we were confident that irrespective of the outcome of the Ayodhya verdict, the city would continue to remain peaceful. Higher ups were pleasantly surprised about the communal harmony voluntarily observed by the citizens,” commissioner of police Chiranjeev Prasad told TOI.

Prasad said further, “In contrast to the image of the city being communally sensitive, 99% of the citizens are peace loving. People are fed up of communal politics as well as communal tension, now they want only development and peace to prevail.”

In several parts of the country, including Maharashtra, police convinced leaders of the Muslim community to withdraw their plan of holding the traditional procession that is held to mark Eid-E-Milad— the birth anniversary of prophet Muhamad that fell on the very next day of the Ayodhya verdict.

In contrast to this, the city police not only gave permission for the procession, but also allowed hundreds of make-shift stalls that come up ahead of Eid in the city. Overwhelmed with the police’s approach, members from different communities felicitated the police officers on different occasions in the past two days.

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