Averted Bengaluru-like stampede in Hyd: Police

Hans India

a day ago

Hyderabad: A potential stampede was averted through swift and firm action after celebrations over Royal Challengers Bengaluru's maiden IPL title turned unruly near the state Secretariat here on the night of June 3, said the Hyderabad police on Thursday.
While fans across Hyderabad took to the streets to celebrate RCB's win, chaotic scenes emerged at certain locations - particularly near the Secretariat - prompting police to rush additional forces. Mild force was used to disperse revellers who were behaving in a disorderly manner, police said.
"In the RCB's IPL victory celebrations over 20,000 people gathered from Secretariat Road to IMAX circle which led to a massive traffic jam. Ambulances were stuck and the public faced inconvenience.
But the Hyderabad City Police responded swiftly & firmly and averted a potential stampede situation and safeguarded many lives. The Telangana State Police and Hyderabad City Police remain committed to ensuring public safety at all times," the Hyderabad City Police said in a post on 'X' on Thursday.
In a post on 'X', Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said, "Watching and hearing about the stampede in Bangalore made me wonder where we are going! This is not a national team winning the World Cup ! It's a mere franchise called RCB which works on commercial lines and does not have a single Hyderabad player in it!? It's not even a #Hyderabad based team!" He said hordes of youngsters and revellers descended on Tank bund, NTR marg and Necklace Road (near Secretariat) and behaved in an unruly manner due to which traffic got jammed in all directions. He said seeing the situation and the hooliganism, extra forces were rushed and a lathi charge was done to disperse the unruly crowd.
"From a police officer's perspective, this unannounced celebrations on the streets by large gatherings are a big danger to public safety and may lead to exactly what we saw in Bengaluru. What if there were some deaths in Hyderabad too? Can anyone expect celebrations for RCB in Hyderabad city! But with social media playing a huge role across the country and the globe, perhaps police must be alert for everyone and everything in future! Is it humanely possible to do so - is what I am wondering," Anand said. A large number of youth took to the streets in different parts of the city on Tuesday night bursting crackers and celebrating RCB's victory. The police dispersed youngsters, who assembled near the Secretariat, set off firecrackers on the roads, and "blocked" traffic, ACP (Saifabad Division) Sanjay Kumar said.
"They were unruly. They were bursting firecrackers on the road and troubling others. Had we not controlled them then maybe there might have been a big issue here also," the ACP said. Videos circulating on social media showed similar scenes in Kukatpally area, where youth were seen climbing onto lorries with posters and others were dancing on the roads.
As celebrations disrupted traffic movement, police dispersed the youth.Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Punjab Kings by six runs to lift their maiden Indian Premier League title in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night.