Bengaluru mass molestation: This is not the city crowd, say Bengalureans
Bengaluru: Though brand Bengaluru has taken a beating over the alleged ‘mass molestation’ of women in the street party on this New Year’s Eve on Brigade Road and M.G. Road, people, who have witnessed the revelry over years, say that majority of the party crowd doesn’t seem to be from Bengaluru.
“It is not the usual Bengaluru crowd, which gathers for the New Year street party. It is a wave of youngsters, which starts to converge on Brigade Road from the Anil Kumble Circle and Cubbon Road from 9pm onwards. They are in party mood, with quite a few of them carrying liquor bottles. They shout, sing, hug and greet each other, and as the clock inches close to 12 am the frenzy picks up. It’s a sea of people in the mob of celebration. One can only see heads in the melee as they move down the Brigade Road from the MG Road junction. At 12, the revelers greet each other in loud peels and shake hands with the cops in between bursting of crackers and loud music. There are cops with their lathis and in mufti, who mingle with the crowd to keep an eye on mischief mongers. Some of them are stationed on a makeshift loft. There is loud music, people dancing and screaming on the road and in between one can hear the police announcing on the public address system to watch out and report any unidentified object, stay safe and with family and friends. It is near impossible to manage the mob and after 1.30 am, the cops take out their lathis to disperse the crowd,” a Bengalurean narrated his experience of the New Year party in the city.
There are around 14-15 CCTV cameras, which are installed in and around the party zone, to keep an eye on anti-social activities and prevent a terrorist attack. “The city is high on the terror radar and after the December 28, 2014 blast on Church Street, which had claimed a woman’s life, the police have become even more vigilant,” said an official source. A couple of years ago, the police had even used drone cameras to heighten the vigil on the party, he said.
