Ayodhya streets deserted, over 5K visit makeshift Ram temple

A day after the Supreme Court verdict, the streets of Ayodhya seemed deserted on Saturday with no customers at the few shops that were open, while over 5,000 devotees visited the makeshift Ram temple at the no longer 'disputed site'.


Entry into Ayodhya town remain restricted on Sunday, with police only allowing people to enter after conducting full checking and verifying their identity.

Anurag Shukla, owner of a tailoring shop near Hanuman Garhi, said that as all roads remain blocked, people are not coming out due to apprehension.

Raghuvar Sharan, the Mahant of Rasik Niwas temple, said: "So much hype was created with the presence of security forces that the people from adjoining areas, who use to visit the temple town on daily basis, are hesitating to come to Ayodhya."

Police was still on high alert and all senior officers including Additional Director General of Police Ashutosh Pandey and senior IAS officer M.P. Agrawal remained busy on Sunday in taking rounds of the area and briefing the officials deployed throughout the temple town.

Ayodhya District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha said that they were still keeping close vigil on each key points, security personnel is still on alert and security barriers are active.

"Now another big challenge for us will be to conduct the Kartik Poornima Mela that starts on Monday and in which 10 lakh devotees will take part," he added.IANS