Hyderabad: The city police foiled an attempt by a group of women to stage a Shaheen Bagh-like protest against the CAA, NPR and NRC at Moghalpura early on Friday. Hundreds of youths gathered outside Hyder Bagh, the venue, to stand guard. They were briefly detained by the police.
Youths were providing a shield for women who were on an indefinite sit-in inside the Hyder Bagh, a private premises. The police had laid siege to the building and did not allow women, including Sheeba Saini, a key protester, to enter the building. Ms Saini argued against the restrictions and sat on the road and started raising slogans against the police.
The youths who were standing guard also joined in. This incident was telecast live on Facebook. Within minutes, more than 500 youths gathered in Moghalpura and started raising slogans in different lanes. Many advocates reached the spot and argued with the police officials and said they should not intervene in events taking place at a private place unless there illegal activity.
Senior police officials led by in-charge deputy commissioner of police (South Zone) Avinash Mohanty reached the spot and asked the organisers to end the protest. They objected to the police intervention. He later directed the police to allow the women to enter the premises and the detained youths were released.
As soon as mediapersons left the spot, the police forced the women to leave the place. Before the action, the street lights were switched off. The protest continued till 4 am. The organisers alleged that the police brought pressure on the owner of the private premises to ask the protesters vacate the place.
