The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Police presence does not deter New Year revellers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 01, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Police presence does not deter New Year revellers

Staff Reporter

Many of them thronged M.G. Road, Brigade Road and Church Street
Police say number of revellers has reduced considerably

Bangalore: Even with several policemen around each corner, revellers — young and old — in the city rang in the New Year at the stroke of midnight by bursting firecrackers amidst cheers of “Happy New Year.” Hundreds of people thronged the Mahatma Gandhi Road, Brigade Road and Church Street.

The revellers, many of them “spirited,” hugged each other and danced on the roads. Youngsters on motorcycles and in cars greeted random strangers on the road. While the police had put in place security measures to ensure that things did not go out of hand, the revellers did not seem to mind it one bit. Sanjeev Reddy, a banker, said: “This is going to the first time that I will be ringing in the New Year with random strangers. I just wanted to know what it feels like to be out on the streets so late.”

Several youngsters started gathering on Mahatma Gandhi Road, Brigade Road and Church Street since late evening. By around 11 p.m. the roads were crowded. The police personnel on Mahatma Gandhi Road claimed that the number of revellers, compared with the previous years, had reduced considerably. “The spirit is still there though,” a police official added hastily. To keep an eye on the revellers, the police had installed cameras on Brigade Road and the sniffer dog squad was pressed into service.

Several clubs and hotels in and around the city had arranged special programmes for the New Year. This year, a lot of couples were seen out on Mahatma Gandhi Road and Brigade Road in spite of the fact that the police kept announcing that women were not allowed out on the roads.

Apart from stray incidents, the crowds by-and-large were well-behaved this year, police said.

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