Bajrang Dal activists (circled in red) took law into their hands and played moral police on Valentine’s Day at IG Park in Bhubaneswar (picture above) and elsewhere. Isn’t it time for the government to strike down on such hooliganism? Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, Feb. 14: Couples in the twin cities today played hide-and-seek with Bajrang Dal activists who were on their toes to catch them cozying up. Adamant not to be disturbed by the moral police on Valentine’s Day, couples shunted from place to place to snuggle up.

However, threats from the fundamentalists seemed to have got the better of park authorities, as major parks in Bhubaneswar such as IG Park, Forest Park and Ekamra Kanan remained shut during the day. A senior cop said policemen had been deployed at every park to keep trouble at bay.

Sources said last year some activists were arrested for creating a scene at Ekamra Kanan, the botanical garden of Regional Plant Resource Centre (RPRC) in Nayapalli, on Valentine’s Day and harassing couples. This might have forced the authorities to shut the park this year.

“We visit the botanical garden on holidays or special occasions. But today, we found the park was closed. I’ve heard that even other parks would be shut today,” said Rituraj Sahu, an employee of a private telecom company in Bhubaneswar.

The authorities, however, said the park was closed for maintenance. “We put up a notice. We regret the inconvenience. It will open tomorrow as usual,” said the administrative officer of RPRC.

Since parks were struck off their hangout list, most young couples preferred to visit shopping malls, cinemas and coffee shops. But the activists played moral police even outside malls and then in some of the parks after they opened in the evening.

Even in Cuttack, Bajrang Dal activists prevented couples from entering parks and drove them out of Barabati fort, leaving them fretting and fuming.

“We are free to decide what is good and bad for us. The way the activists tried to impose things on us and act as moral police is not justified,” said Ritu Sahu, a student.

The activists burnt greeting cards and conducted raids on hangout spots including Seashore Boating Club.

“We had come to celebrate the day with our classmates and suddenly the activists came and drove us out of the boating club, which is not acceptable,” said Sidharth Sahu, another student.

The activists said they were not against love, but were trying to ensure that youngsters did not adopt Western culture.

On the other hand, Cupid struck for nearly 16 couples in Cuttack who chose Valentine’s Day to tie the knot. A mass marriage for 23 couples was solemnised in Jagatsinghpur today to mark V-day.