Question

What was Operation Polo?
A) Code name of operation for killing Veerappan
B) Operation carried against Mumbai attacks
C) Police action for merging Hyderabad state
D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: It was an operation in which the Armed forces invaded a Nizam ruled state. This operation was carried out in 1948.

Complete answer:
A police action was started against Hyderabad State, by the newly independent Dominion of India. It was a military operation codenamed as Operation Polo in which the Indian Armed Force invaded the princely state to annex it into the Indian Union.

Nizam Mir Sir Osman Ali Khan was the ruler of Hyderabad at that time. He was the last ruler of Hyderabad and his empire was the largest and the most prosperous one at the time. The Nizam did not intend to be part of the Dominion of India, nor did he want any trade representation in the European countries and approached the British government with a request to remain an independent constitutional monarchy. But the Viceroy of India rejected this request.

The Indian forces entered Hyderabad on 13th September 1948 and the first battle was fought at Fort Naldurg. On the second day, the forces secured places like Rajeshwar and Aurangabad. On the third day, the forces moved to Jalna, Latur, Mominabad and Suryapet. The force then moved towards Bidur on the fourth day, but were ambushed at the Bidur Road-Hyderabad City Highway. They finally reached Bidur on the 17th of September. Operation Polo ended on this day, when the Nizam of Hyderabad announced a ceasefire.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (D) Police action for merging Hyderabad State.

Note:
-During the annexation of Hyderabad, the military had detained thousands of people.
-This number kept increasing up to 18000 people and the jails got overcrowded and the criminal system got impaled.
-The government was under the pressure of not prosecuting the participants of the operation and finally in 1953, the government had to release almost all of the persons.