Unprecedented security measures have been mounted across the country, especially in the national capital, for the Republic Day parade on Monday.
Unprecedented security measures have been mounted across the country, especially in the national capital, for the Republic Day parade on Monday.
It will be the first R-Day parade where the prime minister will be absent, and it will be the shortest in recent memory.
Almost the entire skies across northern India will be sanitised, banning commercial activity, during the national parade, sources said.
Extra precautions have been taken by the air force and police, by mounting special alerts on airbases and putting up anti-aircraft guns, as intelligence alerts from Germany warn of a plan by the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Khalistan Commando Force to carry out a spectacular aerial strike during this period.
The capital will be provided special fighter coverage, with a formation of fighters in ready-to-take-off mode at the Hindon airbase on Delhi’s outskirts.
Terror alerts, heightened paranoia in the wake of the Mumbai attacks and vulnerabilities of celebrations, have resulted in the unprecedented measures.
The home ministry said over the weekend that there “are a number of terrorist, extremist and insurgent groups which continue to pose a serious threat to the security of the country. The period before and after the Republic Day is an especially vulnerable period. The government of India has sensitised state governments and has asked them to remain at the highest level of alertness.”
The 1.5-kilometre Rajpath stretch, from Raisina Hill, on which stands Rashtrapati Bhavan, to India Gate, is under CCTV surveillance.
Local police officials said 22 CCTVs have been installed, and a central control room will monitor movement along the road, where the country’s top brass will be present for almost one and a half hours of the parade. The chief guest is Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The parade has been shortened by removing elephants from the march past and reducing the number of tableaux.
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