Ayodhya remains totally peaceful: police

AYODHYA - The twin cities of Ayodhya and Faizabad remained peaceful Thursday after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court pronounced its verdict on the Ramjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid case, a police official said.

“There was no report of any kind of violence in the entire district,” Superintendent of Police (City) Rajesh Kumar Rai told IANS.

“Maintaining peace and communal harmony was definitely a challenge for the security personnel. And now, I personally feel that we have succeeded in our target,” added Rai, who was is the in-charge of the heavy security arrangements that have come up in the twin cities.

Nearly 20,000 security personnel from paramilitary forces, Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and other security agencies are camping in the Faizabad district.

Rai said that the residents of Ayodhya played a pivotal role in maintaining law and order ahead of the crucial judgement.

We alone cannot take the credit for this. Locals also contributed their bit in maintaining law and order. Without their support it would have been a tough task for us,” he said.

“The locals adhered to our directives of not holding any mass gatherings or getting involved with a procession… Actually they did not do anything to express themselves in view of the judgment,” he added.

Asked how long the security personnel would continue to camp in Faizabad, Rai said: “As of now, we have not received any instructions from the state government to reduce the security cover that would continue to remain in place till any further order from the government.”