With the Ayodhya verdict to be delivered on Thursday afternoon, security has been tightened all over the country. Here is a round up of the security arrangements:
A three-tier security vigil (over land, air and water) is being maintained in and around 18 districts that have been identified as "hyper-sensitive" -- Lucknow, Faizabad, Gonda, Balrampur, Bahraich, Gorakhpur, Mau, Azamgarh, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Aligarh, Bareilly, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut.
Besides deploying 52 companies of the Central paramilitary forces and 150 companies of the PAC in the sensitive districts, the police have begun air surveillance, with air bases being set up at Lucknow, Meerut and Varanasi. Three recently purchased State Civil Aviation helicopters , which can be piloted during night, began air surveillance since Tuesday. The PAC personnel have also been patrolling the rivers around Faizabad, Kanpur, Saharanpur, Agra and Varanasi. The district police have been told to deploy ASP-rank officers along with paramilitary forces in sensitives areas that were worst-hit by the violence after the Babri Masjid demolition.
Security has been provided to the three judges on the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court set to issue the verdict on the Ayodhya title suits. One platoon of PAC personnel, five CRPF men, escort vehicles, personal security officers have been deployed for the judges. Security at the disputed site has been tightened and searches are being carried out in Faizabad district. Three dog squads, four bomb disposal squads, five anti-sabotage teams and fire tenders have also been deployed in the twin temple towns.
Mumbai Police has made elaborate security arrangements and apart from a skeletal force to man police stations for routine duties, the majority of the 44,000 strong force will be out patrolling. Sensitive spots across the city have been identified and adequate security deployment and preventive measures have been put in place in these areas. These include communally sensitive spots that witnessed riots in 1992 and 1993.
"We are fully prepared for any eventuality. We have also laid a great deal of groundwork in place, with several mohallah committee and peace committee meetings having been arranged during the past one month or so. We urge citizens to go about their daily routines on Thursday, and not give in to any sort of rumours and speculation," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajnish Seth.
All holiday for the Mumbai Police have been cancelled, and all senior officers from the Joint Commissioners of Police and below will be out patrolling the city's streets. More than 4,000 preventive detentions of anti-social elements have been made, and 'thousands' of warning notices under Section 149 of the CrPC have been issued. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have also been issued from September 28 to October 3.
With nearly two lakh security forces already deployed for the Commonwealth Games, no special security arrangements have been made for the Ayodhya verdict. But all the police stations have been told to stay alert and gather information on any attempt to disturb the peace. "As one can see, Delhi roads are already full of police officers and commandos. Local police and other units have been asked to stay cautious," said a police officer. The Delhi Police's reserve battalions would be deployed in case of an emergency.
Over 20,000 policemen, armed reserve police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in Hyderabad. The city had witnessed riots after the Babri Masjid demolition. Police Commissioner A K Khan has issued prohibitory orders against all processions, rallies or public meetings and prohibited individuals/ groups from making any speech, or displaying pictures, symbols, placards, flags which are likely to create religious animosity.
Security has been beefed up in the state capital. Preventive arrests were made in Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and some other towns while sale of liquor has been banned as a precautionary measure. The police are maintaining extra vigil in Durg and Dhamtari districts following intelligence inputs that anti-social elements may create trouble. "Anyone found circulating hate SMSes would be booked under sections of IPC and under the Information Technology Act," said Raipur SP Deepanshu Kabra.
Some 40,000 policemen, including 79 SRPF companies, have been deployed across the state. Four Rapid Action Force companies have been deployed in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat and one company is kept reserved in Gandhinagar. Quick Response Teams have been deployed in each city and district and 10,000 Home Guards have been put on duty to assist the policemen. ADGP, Law and Order, Sudhir Sinha said, "We have 54 SRPF companies deployed for round-the-clock security in the state. In addition, we have 25 more companies. "
ADGP, Law and Order, B S Sandhu said: "We have put the entire police force, the crime branch officials, and other forces at our command on high alert. We have deployed police and paramilitary forces in all the sensitive spots, including Mewat, Faridabad, Palwal, Panipat and Yamunanagar where there is a concentration of Muslim population. Security forces have been deployed around places of worship."
The entire Rajasthan police force, along with close to 20,000 extra personnel from the Border Wing, Home Guard and armed battalions, will remain on alert. Nearly 30,000 people have been detained as part of preventive measures. Extra security personnel have been deployed in sensitive areas like the walled city in Jaipur and parts of Kota, Bhilwara and Ajmer. ADGP, law and order, Navdeep Singh said, "Care has been taken to position the forces strategically."
IG (Law & Order) Ashok Kumar Soni said arrangements had been made to ensure that there's no untoward incident. Sensitive areas have been identified and additional police forces deployed there, he said. Four companies of the anti-riot Rapid Action Force have been deployed in the communally sensitive districts of Bhopal, Ujjain, Indore and Jabalpur. Bhopal Collector Nikunj Shrivastava has ordered closure of all schools in the city at 12 noon on Thursday.
Over 30,000 police personnel, including rapid action, anti-sabotage and strike forces, and bomb squad, would be deployed from Wednesday midnight across the state, the police said. Prohibitory orders under the Kerala Police Act have already been promulgated for the next two days in Kozhikode, Kannur and Alappuzha districts. Police said the restrictions were also likely to be extended to other districts by evening.
Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee issued an appeal to the people urging them to maintain peace and communal harmony. Home Secretary Samar Ghosh said Malda, Murshidabad, Nadia and Asansol have been identified as sensitive. Mobile patrols have been introduced in these sensitive pockets. "We have alerted all the districts and special police arrangements have been done in communally sensitive districts," said officials.
High alert has been sounded across Jammu region with additional forces deployed in sensitive areas. IGP, Jammu zone, Ashok Gupta, said instructions have been issued to all the district police chiefs to take precautionary measures. Additional police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in all sensitive places. In the border district of Poonch, the Army has been deployed in Muslim majority areas.
About 8,000 personnel from the Punjab Armed Police, Indian Reserve Battalion, Punjab Commandos have been pressed into service, in addition to the district police, in all areas. Officials said several places have been identified as vulnerable, and additional forces deployed there. Vigil has been stepped up at Malerkotla and Gurdaspur.
Not leaving anything to chance, the police in Tamil Nadu have declared a 48-hour curfew, bringing the state under a security blanket comprising commandos, armed personnel and local police with special focus on communally-sensitive areas. ADGP K Radhakrishnan (law and order) said 10,000 personnel from the Tamil Nadu Special Commando Force will be deployed in areas that have already been identified as sensitive. There are 12 such areas, including Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Pollachi, Mettuppalayam, Vellore, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Hosur.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said district magistrates and superintendents of police have been asked to remain alert, and additional forces have been deployed in sensitive areas. The places identified as sensitive are Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapara and Jajpur.
KARNATAKA
The state government has banned protests, demonstrations and processions to maintain peace and communal harmony. Home Minister R Ashoka reviewed the situation on Wednesday with deputy commissioners and superintendents of police in districts through video-conferencing. Schools and colleges would remain closed for two days from Thursday.
Source: The Indian Express