BENGALURU: Barring a few stray incidents, the New Year celebrations in the city were largely peaceful. Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara said the celebrations were incident-free due to efficient policing and deployment of 20,000 police personnel.
DG and IGP Dr MA Saleem, along with other senior IPS officers, visited the home minister at his Sadashivanagar residence on Thursday and wished him for the New Year. Parameshwara himself personally monitored the security at the command centre in the office of the city police commissioner till 1.30 am on Thursday.
“We had expected a large number of people gathering for the celebrations. According to the police, nearly seven to eight lakh people ringed in the New Year on MG Road. ‘Celebrate responsibly’ was the motto for this year and everybody celebrated responsibly. There was no untoward incident and even the movement of traffic was normal,” the home minister said.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Traffic Police conducted a 10-day special drive on drunken driving and booked 4,648 cases against two-wheelers and four wheelers. The traffic police had checked 3,30,106 vehicles during the special drive. On Wednesday alone, the traffic police checked 28,500 vehicles and booked 501 riders/drivers.
Incidents on New Year
A youth was attacked in the central business district. The police shifted him to the Bowring Hospital for treatment.
A cab driver was attacked by over 10 persons near the Hudson Circle.
Doddaballapura Rural police raided a farmhouse at Heggadahalli where a New Year party was being held without permission from the authorities. The raid came after locals complained of loud music. Around 40 people were in the party. The police seized liquor and are questioning the farmhouse owner and the event organisers.
Clean-up crew removes nine tonnes of waste
Sanitation workers deployed by the Bengaluru Central Municipal Corporation cleared nine tonne of waste in just five hours after the New Year celebrations on from MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, St Mark’s Road, Residency Road and 100-ft Road in Indiranagar on Thursday morning.