Holi in police station for possible trouble-makers in Bareilly zone

The Bareilly zone police have come up with an interesting idea to maintain peace on Holi day – they will “invite” people named in disputes to celebrate the festival at police stations of their respective areas to rule out the possibility of any law and order problem

The Bareilly zone police have come up with an interesting idea to maintain peace on Holi day – they will “invite” people named in disputes to celebrate the festival at police stations of their respective areas to rule out the possibility of any law and order problem.

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Additional director general (ADG) of police (Bareilly zone) Avinash Chandra said “people named in disputes, who can cause law and order problem, will have to celebrate Holi at police stations.”

The ADG has directed all police stations of Bareilly zone, which includes Bareilly, Rampur, Pilibhit, Badaun, Shahajahnpur, Moradabad, Sambhal, Bijnor and Amroha districts, to make arrangements for gulal and gujias and sweets for the “guests”.

“It has been observed, over the years, that most of the law and order problems on Holi are caused because of disputes. We want to avoid it this time by calling members of both parties to the police station on the festival where they can meet each other in presence of police officials. The duration for which they will be asked to stay at the police station has been left to the discretion of local police officials,” Chandra said.

Acting on the orders, the district police chiefs in the zone have asked all police stations to make a list of individuals who are known to have long standing disputes in their areas. The police will then inform such people to report at the police station on Holi day to celebrate the festival there itself.

While the exercise of collecting names is still on, it is expected that close to 500 people will be called to the police stations in the zone on Holi.

Beside this initiative, local police are also in touch with political and religious leaders to ensure peaceful festivities. Meetings of peace committees were also conducted recently at police stations across the state.

The police in the region have taken similar steps in the past also to ensure peace during festivals. In some districts, police issued pink cards to people who were known to cause trouble during festivals, warning them against disturbing law and order.