Bajrang Dal has left no stone unturned to ensure that no 'untoward activities' takes place in Hyderabad this Valentine's Day.
Continuing with their 'tradition', the Hindutva group said that they will deploy 30 teams across Telangana, especially in public parks and malls to thwart couples from indulging in activities against the country's 'culture and traditions', reports The News Minute.
"Don't do any programmes in the name of Valentine's day. Pubs and malls will give offers to attract couples. These people are doing this to spoil our culture and tradition. They are doing this for money, all the youth who go to pubs, they take drugs, drink and get corrupted and it affects the growth of our country. In the name of selling goods, they created this Valentine's day," Subash Chandra, the state convener for Bajrang Dal in Telangana was quoted as saying by TNM.
Chandra added that they will take to burning effigies on the street. The members will also patrol public locations in search of couples. If they find any such couples, instead of marrying them, Chandra said that the group will make them call their parents and inform them of their location and activities.
However, Bajrang Dal's plans were put to a halt in LB Nagar in Hyderabad when the police rounded up the group and escorted them to the police station.
Bajrang Dal activists, who had earlier threatened counselling for couples found together, detained by @hydcitypolice as they gathered in LB Nagar in #Hyderabad. The effigy was snatched away and they were herded into police vehicles before they could protest. #ValentinesDay pic.twitter.com/yZ69NQxpSy
— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) February 14, 2019
The Hyderabad Police had earlier said that they were aware of Bajrang Dal's plans. "We are aware of their plans and we have beefed up security. Our people will be there everywhere. No one in society accepts vulgarity and if there is any breach of decency and Law, Police will take action, but interfering with people's free will is not correct. Taking the law into own hands is not correct and shall not be tolerated," DS Chauhan, the Additional Commissioner of Police, (Law and Order), had told TNM.
This comes after Bajrang Dal claimed that it will deploy 250 activists to patrol the streets of Dehradun. They planned to film couples and submit the footage to the police. In addition to this, the group also planned on filming harassers and stalkers too, to give to the police. This, they said, was to show that the Bajrang Dal activists are not harassers but others are.