Srirangapatna: The Sankeerthana Yatra or Shobha Yatra taken out by Hanuman devotees in Srirangapatna passed off peacefully yesterday. Thousands of devotees wearing Hanuma Malas went through the streets chanting devotional songs and shlokas. The entire town was beefed up with Police security.

Thousands of people from Mandya, Mysuru and Kodagu had converged into Srirangapatna for the mega event that was launched by Vedic scholar Dr. Bhanuprakash Sharma from Anjaneyaswamy Temple near Nimishamba Temple in Ganjam. The Hanuma maladharis chanted ‘Jai Sri Ram’ and ‘Jai Bajrangbali’ throughout the rally, waving saffron flags.

The event was organised by the Mysuru division of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike. There was heavy Police presence all over the temple town.

The rally covered six kilometres passing through Tipu’s Summer Palace, Government Hospital, Bengaluru-Mysuru Highway Circle, Jamia Masjid Circle and culminated at the grounds opposite Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple.  Along with the devotees, cultural troupes too participated in the procession. An idol of Lord Hanuman that was decked up with flowers and ornaments was carried along the procession.

Nearly 1,000 Policemen, including about 100 in plain clothes who were mingling with the crowd, were deployed as part of the security measure while a few more Police platoons were on standby.

The Police had stepped up security as fears were expressed by members of the minority community and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), who alleged that there was a conspiracy to vandalise or damage the historic mosque during the event.

However, the Hindu Jagarana Vedike had denied that there was no conspiracy and they were just holding the rally as per their faith. They clarified that the fears of the SDPI and other leaders were unfounded.

Mandya SP N. Yathish, Dy.SP Sandesh Kumar and Assistant Commissioner Shivananda Murthy were personally supervising the security and a team of five DY.SPs, 14 units of District Armed Reserve (DAR), five platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and one unit of Quick Response Team (QRT) were posted.

During the procession, three persons who were allegedly video-recording the happenings were roughed up by a group. The Police intervened and whisked  them away to safety.