District Collector V. Vinay Chand has warned that anyone resorting to disruption of communal harmony will be punished severely.
A district-level Communal Harmony Committee was formed to protect peace and communal harmony in the district. The committee is headed by the Collector as chairman and the Police Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police as vice-chairmen, Assistant Director of Endowments and officials of the Minorities Welfare Department as members and Joint Collector as the member-convener. The heads of seven religions are also members of the committee.
At the first meeting with officials and representatives of various religions, here on Sunday, the Collector said that the committee was empowered to to initiate necessary action against those indulging or inciting communal violence or causing disharmony among different religions. There were 15 Assembly constituencies in the district of which seven were in urban limits and the remaining in rural areas.
The committee would hold meetings in all constituencies to create awareness among the people. He asked the constituency-level committees to meet on a regular basis. A security plan was being worked for the protection of all religious places. Those indulging in disruption of peace and communal harmony would be booked under various Sections of the IPC.
Police Commissioner Manoj Kumar Sinha, SP B. Krishna Rao, Joint Collector M. Venugopal Reddy, DRO A. Prasad and RDO Penchala Kishore were among those who participated in the meeting.
