A force of more than 18,000 uniformed men and officers of the regular police, reserve police and paramilitary forces, would be deployed at strategic locations on the route of the annual Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra procession on June 29, police sources said here today.
The regular police force to be deployed on the day include 10,000 constables, Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) jawans, 4000 home guards, 600 police sub-inspectors, 223 police inspectors and 1000 recruits who are under training.
"To guide this huge force, eight Inspector Generals of Police (IG) and Deputy IG level officers would remain at the spot since morning. Besides, 38 Superintendents of Police (SPs) and 84 Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs) would handle security on the Rath Yatra day," Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Special Branch, Vikas Sahay said.
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Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the procession to pass through areas considered communally sensitive, such as Shahpur, Kalupur and Dariyapur.
In addition, the city police would take help from the State Reserve Police (SRP) as well as paramilitary forces, such as the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and BSF for enhanced security cover.
"Around 40 SRP companies and 20 companies of paramilitary forces would be utilised for bandobast. Each company would have 60 to 80 men. Officials and vehicles of the Bomb Disposal Sqaud (BDS) as well Quick Response Team (QRT) would also remain on their toes on that day," Sahay said.
The total length of the Rath Yatra procession would stretch upto 1.5 km and cover a 16-km route, before returning to the Jagannath temple in the Jamalpur area after almost ten hours of journey in the walled city.
To keep a close watch on each and every movement, the city police would high-tech tools like Global Positioning System (GPS) and four Unmanned Aerial Vehicles called 'Netra' with a wireless camera deployed on them.
