The Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi has sought action against Charminar Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police Kiran Khare, alleging that the officer ill-treated Ganesh mandap organisers after Hyderabad’s 11-day Ganesh festival. The Samithi has also demanded an unconditional apology from the officer.
In a statement, Samithi general secretary Dr Ravinuthala Shashidhar alleged that the DCP did not hold a single coordination meeting with the organisers during the festival. According to the statement, the organisers were later summoned to Charminar police station after the festival and made to stand before the officer in a manner that Dr Shashidhar compared to the treatment of “rowdy sheeters”.
The allegation places the dispute within the wider administrative challenge of coordinating large religious festivals in dense urban areas. Such events require engagement between organisers and police authorities on issues including crowd management, movement through busy neighbourhoods and the operation of temporary mandaps. In this case, the Samithi alleged that the coordination process broke down during the festival period.
Dr Shashidhar said the officer’s conduct could provoke Hindu society and questioned whom the DCP was trying to impress through the alleged behaviour. The Samithi has asked Hyderabad City Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar to initiate suitable action against Kiran Khare.
The organisation also warned that it would launch direct protests if the DCP was not punished. The demand for disciplinary action and the threat of demonstrations have raised the possibility of the dispute moving beyond an internal grievance between festival organisers and the police administration.
The allegations have been made by the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samithi and were carried in a statement issued by the organisation. The report did not include a response from Kiran Khare, the Hyderabad City Police or Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar to the accusations or the demand for action. Further developments will depend on whether the city police commissioner responds to the representation and whether the Samithi proceeds with its proposed protests.
