E-Paper
Friday prayers held peacefully in Ghaziabad, GB Nagar
Ghaziabad/Noida: The Friday prayers in the cities of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar were held peacefully, even as the police and administrative officials kept
Ghaziabad/Noida: The Friday prayers in the cities of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar were held peacefully, even as the police and administrative officials kept a close watch and made elaborate arrangements to ensure that no untoward incident takes place. The heavy deployment and extra vigil was put in place in view of the large-scale violence that took place in parts of north-east Delhi between Sunday night and Thursday.
In Ghaziabad, the administration had deployed Rapid Action Force, Provincial Armed Constabulary and 5,000-strong civil police personnel to man sensitive areas on Friday. District magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said the sector-scheme was put in place and will remain in effect till Monday after which it will be reviewed.
The sector scheme involves giving each official the charge of one sector. Entire Ghaziabad district was entrusted to 16 zonal magistrates, 11 super zonal magistrates and 59 sector magistrates.
“The scheme will remain in effect till Monday after which a review will be done. The seven borders with Delhi will also be heavily guarded and restrictions will remain in place. A review will be taken up on the directions of state officials and in consultation with the Delhi Police. No untoward incident was reported from any of the areas in Ghaziabad till date,” Pandey added.
The personnel carried out routine marches in sensitive areas such as Loni, Kaila Bhatta, Shaheed Nagar, Muradnagar, Dasna and Masuri, among others.
In Gautam Budh Nagar, the situation remained calm and peaceful even as police remained on high alert. The district has more than 140 mosques and shrines with around 40 in the city area and more than 100 in Greater Noida.
“Patrolling was carried out on Friday just like other days. However, no disturbance was reported and there were no untoward incident during the Friday prayers,” deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma said.
He said there was a precautionary deployment of QRTs but everything remained calm in the city.
Police had earlier in the week carried out peace meetings to avoid any confrontations on Friday.
“We had met the local clerics Thursday to avoid any tense situations and things went peacefully on Friday. The local police remained vigilant and were deployed at all sensitive spots,” DCP, zone 3, Rajesh Kumar Singh said.
Meanwhile, clerics said the turnout for Friday prayers was more than the usual.
“There were more people today but everything went peacefully. Problems arise when there is no one to guide the public. We have been persuading people to remain calm. No one has ever benefited from violence,” Shahid, a cleric at the Sector 31 mosque, said.
