Friday prayers in the Mecca Masjid were peaceful even as the place of worship saw fewer namazis and an increase in constabulary.
On Thursday Muslim religious groups, including the Jamiat-e-Ulama Telangana Andhra Pradesh, and Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi urged calm, restraint and the maintaining of peace after Friday prayers. They had also urged the public not to gather for protests and return in an orderly fashion.
Security in and around Charminar was beefed up with a Rapid Action Force platoon, and senior police officers present, and in no mood to take chances given the recent tension in the Old City following legislator now-suspended from the BJP T Raja Singh's offensive comments about Prophet Muhammad.
Around 1.20 p.m., upon the completion of prayers, namazis began to stream out of the masjid amid intense vigilance by the police and heavy media presence. Few young men who lingered around were asked to leave.
A mild commotion was witnessed around 1.35 p.m. after a person was allegedly found moving under suspicious circumstances near the Mecca Masjid. A few locals were seen handing him over to the police, who took him away.
Speaking to the media, Hyderabad City Police Commissioner C. V. Anand, congratulated the public and police personnel for upholding calm. He cautioned the public from posting videos on social media that could cause tension in the city.
“Everybody knows what has been happening for the past four or five days. I congratulate the public and police personnel for maintaining peace here. I only want to say that some videos which are being posted may cause trouble in maintaining peace. I am cautioning such people not to do this. We have identified them and will register cases. Hyderabad, its culture of peace and calm and its history should not be tainted,” Mr. Anand said.
He urged the public to come forward and inform the police of anything which may cause trouble.
Touching upon the issue of closing shops early, Mr. Anand said that they had requested people down shutter by 8 p.m. However, a decision on this matter would be arrived at after deliberations later in the evening.
