Police personnel being trained to handle any emergency situation

LUCKNOW: Special training sessions are being organised for police personnel arriving at the police lines in Ayodhya for handling any possible emergency situation that may arise during Kartik Purnima (November 12) and after the Supreme Court verdict, a senior police official said.

A large number of security personnel are being dispatched to Ayodhya from across the state to beef up security in the pilgrim town. Apart from civil police, the Rapid Action Force of the Central Reserve Police Force is also being deployed there. Police personnel are being trained to fire tearsmoke gun, rubber bullets, handle automatic weapons and how to control a mob during a riot. They are also being taught to handle social media accounts to check fake messages and how to handle an injured civilian.

“Elaborate security arrangements have been made in Ayodhya. Security personnel have been deployed to prevent any untoward situation,” said Ashish Tewari, senior superintendent of police, Ayodhya.

Right from the river Saryu bridge to the narrow lanes of Ayodhya, police personnel have been deployed to prevent any untoward incident. Security has also been tightened at Mani Ram Das Chavni Peeth from where the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas operates. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, head of the Nyas, has Y category security since 2016.

The district administration has demanded additional force from the state government for the festive occasion of Kartik Purnima. This deployment will remain till the Supreme Court delivers final verdict in the Ayodhya case.

The state government has deployed 25 additional SPs, 10 additional SPs, 25 inspectors, 125 sub-inspectors, 700 head constables, 45 female sub inspectors, 100 female constables and 85 traffic constables. Apart from this, six companies of the PAC and two of the RAF have also been deployed along with ATS commandos.

EXISTING SECURITY

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid campus has already been divided in several zones for security purposes. The makeshift Ram Mandir comes in the isolation zone. For security of this zone, CRFP has been deployed. The 70-acre campus in the red zone has three-tier barricading. CRPF, PAC and civil police personnel are deployed there.

Outside this 70-acre area, there is a yellow zone where civil police from various police stations across Ayodhya are deployed.