Bhopal: Valentine's Day celebrated amid Khaki's watch and moral policing

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Amid Valentine's Day celebrations with couples celebrating the spirit of love despite warnings from saffron outfits, police patrolling was intensified at sensitive places in the city like parks and picnic spots.

Couples were spotted at parks in the city, at Boat Club, Sheetal Das Ki Bagiya and near around Upper Lake, where policemen were present in large numbers to prevent violence.

Many restaurants were filled with couples enjoying dates. A cafe owner at Jyoti Talkies Square, Aditya Dhar, told Free Press, We had couples with pre-booked slots. We had discounts and package deals on the occasion. Despite all warnings from social-policing outfits, couples enjoyed the day of love without fear. I am happy to have contributed to it.

Couples were seen at Boat Club enjoying boating together and having street food. Many were seen at Sair Sapata enjoying their day out together. The police maintained the order across the city, keeping a check on anti-social elements too, according to officials.

The markets appeared red with shopkeepers selling roses and balloons to the couples. A shopkeeper at New Market said, Apart from the general gift items, I had stocked up greeting cards and bouquets for couples. I made a sale of more than Rs 8,000 today.

The bakeries were also crowded with couples waiting for cakes and other sweetmeats. A bakery owner in Shahpura Aditi Tyagi said, I started bakery during lockdown and I knew that Valentine's Day would be a perfect occasion for me to hype my brand. So, I circulated ads for customised cakes at low costs on social media. There were couples who asked for cakes customised as per their names and caricatures.

700 additional cops deployed

Additional commissioner of police Sachin Atulkar said 700 additional police personnel were deployed in the city apart from staff from all the police stations and the reserve force to maintain law and order on Valentineís Day on Monday.

There was no questionable activity in the city on Valentineís Day. A day before, we had a conversation with all the concerned parties. We had enhanced security around parks keeping in view the warnings of Shiv Sena and other likeminded outfits, which are into social policing. We had planned to tackle any situation in an orderly manner and things worked out as planned, he added.

On Sunday, Shiv Sena members had performed dand pooja with slogan, No Baby, Babu, Sona to be permitted to roam on this occasion in Madhya Pradesh.

Sanskriti Bachao Manch thanks youths for not celebrating V-Day

Sanskriti Bachao Manch on Monday thanked youths of the city for boycotting Valentineís Day celebration, said the state president of the organisation Chandra Shekhar Tiwari.

One of the saffron outfits has decided to oppose the celebrations. As many as 12 squads were prepared and were deputed in various places of the city to keep eye on love birds.

Tiwari told media that in every squad 10 members were kept, some of them took out motorcycle rally and few of them remained in parks to stop any vulgarity.

ìWith the help of administration, not even a single unpleasant situation occurred in the city and the youths boycotted the day,î he said.

He also added that on February 14 in Pulwama attack, as many as 40 CRPF personnel had died and the organisation paid homage to the deceased security personnel.