Maharashtra Police tightens security in Pune ahead of 201st anniversary of Koregaon Bhima battle

On 1st January 2019, lakhs of Dalits will celebrate 201st anniversary of historic Koregaon Bhima battle. Dalits from across Maharashtra and many or states will come to Koregaon Bhima of Pune rural area to celebrate victory over Peshwas. Bhim army chief Chandrashekhar Az alias Ravan is also in Maharashtra to pay a visit to victory pillar.

Chandrashekhar Az also wants to hold a rally in Pune but local police have not yet given him permission for rally. Bhim army has alleged that police are illegally detaining ir party workers.    

Last year, re was a clash between Dalits and right-wing groups in which one young boy h lost his life. Because of this clash, Maharashtra h witnessed massive outrage in Dalit community. Violent protests were seen following incident in many parts of state especially in Mumbai where protesters h burnt vehicles, pelted stones on police personnel. 

This year, state police have geared up to stop a repeat of violent clashes which h raised questions over law and order conditions of state.

massive police force has been deployed in entire rural area. Eleven drone cameras will be used to monitor crowd. Twelve platoons of state reserve police force along with 5000 police personnel will be part of bandobast. 

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Senior police officials said that this year police security would be ten times higher than that of teh previous year.

To stop any kind of untoward incidents, police have also started preventive arrests. Preventive actions have been initiated against miscreants, few criminals have been tipar (banished) from region. Apart from this, police have also issued a notice against those who are involved in violent protests in past or accused of instigating violence. Such people have been barred from entering in Koregaon Bhima region.       

Police have also requested local villagers to help Dalit visitors who will come to see victory pillar. For Dalits  ‘victory pillar’ at Koregaon Bhima is a symbol of pride and victory over upper caste Peshwas who committed atrocities against m for many centuries.  

special inspector general of Kolhapur region Vishwas Nangre Patil told Republic TV that people need not be worried. "We have me equate security arrangements for people. We have taken many mohalla meetings with villagers. All peacekeeping efforts are being done", he said.   

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