VISHVENDU JAIPURIAR
Hazaribagh, April 1: A 6km stretch with 5000 policemen and around 100 processions monitored by senior administrative and police officials sitting all the time on a watch tower seeing the passing procession and feeds of 100 cameras on screens installed there, concluded on Sunday.
At around 12:30 AM, the last procession crossed Jama Masjid road making officials heave a sigh of relief. SP Manoj Ratan Chauthe admitted that it was not an easy task to go for such a huge security bandobast and co-ordinating with magistrates to police officers besides handling major to-minute issues.
The excitement at Hazaribag town was at its peak since Friday, the tenth day of the Ramanavmi. People from rural areas gathered on the roadside at the top of the buildings on the procession route. After many years, town people also came out in large numbers to see the procession. What surprised all spectators, was the presence of girls as akhara members. Many girls didn’t hesitate to enter the procession playing with traditional weapons.
In the evening as well as at night, heavy downpours started but failed to dampen the spirit of the members from different akharas. They kept playing various bhakti songs and displaying weapons. On the watch tower, DIG Hazaribag range, Narendra Kumar, DC Nancy Sahay, SP Manoj Ratan Chauthe, DDC Prerna Dikshit, IAS probation Shatakshi Majumdar were present monitoring the procession and were passing instructions whenever needed. Others who visited this tower were Hazaribag MP Jayant Sinha, former MP Yadunath Pandey, MLA of Barkagaon Amba Prasad and MLA of Hazaribag sadar Manish Jaiswal.
After the last procession crossed, Sahay and Chauthe expressed their happiness and thanked all for their support. It was not possible without your support, he told a large number of akhara members from the tower. It’s you who made this a success, he added amid clapping and shouting. Jaiswal also thanked residents for making the festival over peacefully.
Local residents said this was the grandest festival witnessed by them in recent years in terms of jhankis, discipline and playing of devotional songs. Even gathering of people was maximum which was more than a lakh, they added. Regarding injuries, 3000 were given treatment and three were referred to Ranchi for better treatment.
