SRPF to be deployed at religious places: Jayant Patil

Mumbai, Nov 8 (UNI) Alarmed over the recent bomb blast at the shrine of Muslim sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer and a spate of threats from militants to Haji Ali Dargah and Siddhi Vinayak temple here, the Maharashtra government has taken a decision to deploy armed commandos from the State Reserve Police Force at religious places across the city.

This was discosed by Maharashtra Finance Minister and Mumbai Guardian Minister Jayant Patil at the meeting of the Muslim religious scholars held at the Islamia Gymkhana here last evening.

Mr Patil was responding to concerns raised by the participants over the alleged threats by the extremist groups to the religious shrines.

Welcoming the decision, the participants assured the Minister that they would fully cooperate with the government on the issue.

''Our religious places are pretty old with some as old as over 100 years. While we have our own security at these places, if the SRPF is deployed, we will be in a position to protect these places in a much more efficient manner,'' said Maulana Abdul Jabbar Maherul Qadri of the Sunni Aima-e-Masajid.

UNI