Thursday night panic fails to perturb Pune, despite provocative SMSes

Police patrol the area where some youths pelted stones near a shivaji statue at Sasanenagar

Despite a lot of panic and rumours in the city about the possibility of a fresh breakout of violence over the issue of derogatory pictures of Shivaji Maharaj and Bal Thackeray being circulated that had sparked bouts of violence earlier in the week, on Friday the police who had kept a strict bandobast in sensitive parts of the city and averted untoward incidents.

On Friday, there was heavy bandobast witnessed in the sensitive areas in Camp, Shivajinagar, Kondhwa, Mundhwa, Hadapsar and also in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area. Friday was touted to be a sensitive day as it was a day for Friday prayers and Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation ceremony. Besides general bandobast, a set of senior police officers ranking assistant commissioner of police and deputy commissioner of police were deployed near mosques and dargahs.

Top: In the aftermath of the violence following Mohsin Shaikh's murder police patrol thr Jama Masjid area near Sayyed Nagar

Middle: Shops are open in Sasanenagar as shopkeepers did not believe in rumour mongers and contacted the cops to verify if there was trouble

Bottom:  Despite Friday prayers, there were o untoward incidents at Sasanenagar(left); A police baricade where a shop was pelted with stones(right)

The panic in city had escalated when on Thursday night a fresh round of provocative messages were doing the rounds. The fear psychosis in city is evident from the fact that the city police control room has received more than 450 calls in three days. Most of the calls came from Hadapsar, Kondhwa, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Camp, Shivajinagar, Kothrud and Laxmi Road.
Police were interacting with citizens, keeping an eye on suspicious persons moving around. Deputy commissioner of police (Zone IV) Manoj Patil said, “From 7 am the police were patrolling sensitive areas. Citizens directly called the control room in stead of believing in rumours.”