Zee JLF 2018 | Khakee power stood firm as Jaipur went into festive frenzy

They clicked the selfie... they sipped the coffee...they moderated a show... they never realised that the Men in Khakee did a relentless job to ensure a smooth run for the Zee JLF.

As Jaipur rose to celebrate the greatest literature event, ZEE JLF, the city police has a tough responsibility to ensure it concludes safely. The Jaipur police not only had the task to defend the festival from protest of agitated groups and unruly visitors, it also had to upheld the image of city. The festival attracts large number of visitors from the country and abroad and the police had to ensure that they return with a rather friendly image of Jaipur. It was the message from police commissioner of Jaipur, Sanjay Agrawal while briefing police personnel ahead of the festival. "You are the brand ambassadors of Jaipur for next five days, so be polite," Agarwal had instructed the policemen.

Yogesh Dadhich, deputy commissioner of police, Jaipur South, considers success of JLF as a big win. “There was a huge crowd, still we were able to win it. We had adequate staff, our seniors were also present there. We were fully equipped. We received all the equipment we had asked for. The management of the venue was also good,” Dadhich said.

He further stated that having one of the session venues outside Diggi Palace was a blessing as there was more space for the crowd to move inside the main venue.

“Samvad being outside the venue was a good thing as the crowd was shifted into two places. I feel, we got more space when the crowd moved out. There was no problem,” Dadhich explained.

He also informed that a separate corridor was set up for those who were returning back to the main venue after attending a session at Samvad.

Dadhich also informed that there was a a 24-hour security set up. There were around 500 policemen with 7:30 to 7:30 shifts.

The Threats

It was, however, the threat from Rajput organisation Karni Sena that had shadowed possibility of peaceful commencement of the festival. The group to have spearheaded protest against Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie Padmavaat had warned to rampage session of CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi scheduled at the festival.

The Deployment

The police commissionerate had deployed at the festival, one DCP, 3 Additional DCP, 6 ACP, 14 inspectors, 34 sub inspectors, over 300 constables. There were 34 female cops among these, while two companies of RAC, quick response teams and additional forces kept on alert to be deployed in case of any untoward situation. As the 12th edition of the literature festival concluded peacefully, the men in khaki had once again proved successful in defending the celebration of expression and pride of city.