SECUNDERABAD: Marredpally police station once served as an outpost for British army. It was an army picket and the modern locality, Picket, is named after it.The outpost was set up in 1877. A compound attached to the outpost served as a stray cattle pound. It was later converted into a police station.The building, housing the police station, is an elegant structure. The structure was notified as a historical monument by the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB). The police department has been maintaining the building properly and attending to its timely repairs.According to city historians, the Marredpally police station building was constructed around the same time as Karkhana and Trimulgherry police stations. The Karkhana police station also had a cattle pound attached to it.“Marredpally, Karkhana and Trimulgherry outposts were set up to protect the cantonment and British nationals living in Secunderabad cantonment. The outposts used to keep a watch on the movement of people and the military personnel manning them used to alert the Army officials if they sensed any danger. Stray buffaloes and sheep were kept in the cattle pounds attached to the police stations,” P Anuradha Reddy, convenor, INTACH, Hyderabad chapter, told STOI.The cattle pound had keepers to look after the cattle till the owners pay the fine and take the animals. The penalty could be four to five annas per cattle, said Anuradha Reddy.Today the road abutting the Marredpally police station is one of the busiest roads in Secunderabad Cantonment. Consequently, the area near the police station has turned into a bottleneck, Anuradha Reddy added.Marredpally police inspector A Srinivasulu said that the police department has been maintaining the historical building quite well. “The building is quite cool during summer, thanks to the material used in the construction,” he said.A proposal has been made to construct a new building for the police station. The site will be finalised within a month, Srinivasulu said.The current building is too congested. The rooms are small. Moreover, the road in front of the police station is narrow.

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