Hyderabad, March 06: A Major chunk of armed central paramilitary forces stationed in the state capital to tackle the Telangana agitation may be asked to take it easy during the Million March to Hyderabad on March 10.
Forces like the Border Security Force (BSF), which is trained only in using weapons, may be asked to stay put in their camps that day and only a few of their personnel would be kept stand-by, that too far away from the venues of protest.
‘’Just a misfire may lead to a disaster and we cannot take chances in view of the large crowds. The local police will have man-to-man contact with the crowd that day,’’ said a senior police official supervising the bandobust arrangements for the Million March.
Though the police are still finalising their strategies for the Million March, sources said barricades would be set up at various places with concertina (heavy-duty barbed wire) to confine the crowd to those particular areas and to prevent their spillover to other places.
Inputs gathered by the police suggest that TJAC members have decided on gatherings at 30 places across the city including Tank Bund, Necklace Road, Abids, RTC Crossroads, Ambedkar Statue and Gun Park. ‘’But the TJAC is yet to finalise its programme and we are following the developments closely,’’ they said.
Police estimate that only about 1.5 to 2 lakh people may take part in the Million March. ‘’Or, could be more,’’ said a police official, adding that it was too early to speculate the number.
The superintendents of police in Telangana districts have been asked to ‘filter’ the number of people travelling to Hyderabad that day.
‘’Ambulances and fire-tenders will be kept ready near the venues,’’ the sources said, adding that security would be further tightened around the Raj Bhavan, Secretariat, Assembly and the chief minister’s residence.
‘’We may block the protesters at some places and allow them to squat at some others. Blocking every venue will mean building up more pressure which may lead to confrontation,’’ they said.
Director-general of police K Aravinda Rao is expected to hold a video conference with the SPs of Telangana districts and the Hyderaba.d city police officials.
–Agencies