More than 25,000 police personnel will be on duty to ensure a peaceful and trouble-free yatra.
The Ahmedabad police are gearing up for the Jagannath Rathyatra, scheduled for June 24. More than 25,000 police personnel will be on duty to ensure a peaceful and trouble-free yatra. As the festival is considered a sensitive one, cops have already started sanitising sensitive areas in the city. If police sources are to be believed, the security this time will be very tight with cops from other parts of the state fortifying the security network.
The city has 20 state reserved police (SRP) companies and 34 other SRP and paramilitary forces will reach the city soon. “The SRPs will camp in different areas of the city to take care of security in target areas,” joint commissioner of police, special branch, GS Malik told DNA. Malik further said that all the primary provisions to manage the police bandobast for the festival were in process and the personnel would take positions soon.
Each SRP company comprises 135 to 140 personnel and so there would be around 7,500 SRP men to ensure a trouble-free rathyatra in the city. Around 2,500 Gujarat Police personnel will be stationed at strategic points for a smooth conduct of the religious ceremony. “Apart from such forces, the city police and police officials from other states will also be deployed,” Malik said.
There will be around 15,000 police personnel from the city police who will also fortify the city. “Around 3,000 police officials from other states, from the range of police sub-inspectors, head constables and police inspectors, will also be deployed during the festival,” a police source said.
The police are already in top gear as they had recently ensured an incident-free general election in the state. Most of the history-sheeters and trouble-makers, who were nabbed during elections, are already behind bars. According to the police sources, on an average, two persons are detained every day under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA).
“Since January, police have detained 310 people under PASA and the number is expected to go up before rathyatra,” a police source said. The police drive to extern anti-social elements has also intensified to ensure trouble-free rathyatra. “The police stations concerned have started making lists of people who could be detained under PASA,” the source said.
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