Day after Ayodhya verdict, India remains calm

A day after the Ayodhya court verdict was pronounced, the nation remained calm on Friday, with no untoward incident reported from any part, as tens of thousands of security personnel kept a hawk's vigil.

Massive security drill in sensitive areas across the country will continue for a few more days to thwart any law and order problems, according to the authorities. Thousands of potential trouble makers and anti-social elements were also rounded up as a preventive measure in several parts of the country.

Since security was tight, there were no reports of any celebrations or protests from any part of the country. Life was normal at the twin cities of Faizabad and Ayodhya --epicentre of the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute -- in Uttar Pradesh, with people carrying on with their routine chores amid reports that there was a spirit of bonhomie among all sections of people.

No vehicle is being allowed entry into the temple town without extensive checking as patrolling has picked up, said the police.

"The situation is totally normal, but there will be no let up in security," Senior Superintendent of Police Faizabad R K S Rathore said. In the capital, the Delhi police kept a tight vigil, especially in the walled city, to ensure that no untoward incident took place.

All the police stations in the city were on high alert and the security arrangements made for the Commonwealth Games came in handy in preventing any incidents arising out of the verdict on the Ayodhya title suit pronounced by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday.

Amid a thick security cover with over 2.5 lakh security personnel keeping a strict vigil, the situation in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra was peaceful. Mumbai, which had witnessed large-scale riots post the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, also remained calm amidst security personnel armed with guns, lathis and riot control equipment on the streets.

"No untoward incident was reported in the state. It remained absolutely calm. The security arrangements will continue for a couple of days," said K P Raghuvanshi, additional director general of police (Law and Order).

Mumbai Deputy Police Commissioner (Operations) Rajkumar Vhatkar said prohibitory orders in the country's financial capital will continue till October 3. Nearly 7,000 troublemakers were arrested in Mumbai as a preventive measure, he said.

In Uttar Pradesh, a three-tier security vigil continued to be maintained in and around 18 districts that have been identified as 'hyper-sensitive' -- Lucknow, Faizabad, Gonda, Balrampur, Bahraich, Gorakhpur, Mau, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut.

The district police have been told to deploy assistant superintendent of police-rank officers along with paramilitary forces in sensitive areas that were worst-hit by the violence after the Babri Masjid demolition.

West Bengal, where the security was intensified, was peaceful with no untoward incident reported from anywhere in the state. Security was tight in Kolkata, where 18 of the 43 police stations areas were declared sensitive with radio flying squads on constant patrol.