Lakhs offer Jumat-ul-Vida prayers in city

Hyderabad, Aug 2 : Over one lakh Muslims offered prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid on the occasion of Jumatul Vida, the last Friday of Holy month of Ramadan.

Prayers were held amidst heavy security arrangements made by the City Police. Over 10,000 policemen were deployed across the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad to ensure peaceful conduct of Ramadan’s main event before the Eid. The security arrangements at Mecca Masjid were personally supervised by City Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma. Police pickets were also deployed at almost all mosques in the city.

The prayers at Mecca Masjid were led by Imam Moulana Rizwan Qureshi. After the Friday prayers, MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi addressed the Jalsa-e-Yaum-ul-Quran meeting in the mosque premises.

Since the Mecca Masjid inside-compound could accommodate nearly 20,000 devotees at one time, thousands of others were seen offering namaz on the roads – Shalibanda to Gulzar Houz and Laad Bazar.

Huge gatherings were also seen at Jamia Masjid Chowk, Jamia Masjid Mir Vazeer Ali at Fateh Darwaza, Jamia Masjid Barkas, Jamia Masjid Secunderabad, Masjid-e-Azizia at Mehdipatnam, Masjid-e-Osmania Sarf-e-Khas Paltan at Malakpet, Jamia Masjid BHEL, Jamia Masjid Sahifa at Azampura, Jamia Masjid Musheerabad, Jamia Masjid Mohammadia at Lalaguda, Masjid-e-Aaliya and the Royal Mosque at Public Garden. INN