LUCKNOW: In the backdrop of twin blasts at Varanasi, elaborate security arrangements have been made throughout Uttar Pradesh for the Holi festival with security personnel being deployed in strength at all sensitive places.

State police chief Yashpal Singh here said on Tuesday that 200 companies of PAC and nine companies of Rapid Action Force had been deployed besides the civil police to maintain law and order during the festival.

Special security arrangements have been made in Varanasi, Lucknow, Faizabad, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and other places. Security measures in and around the sensitive Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi mosque complex, Sankat Mochan and other religious places and vital installations like airport, railway stations, bus stands, etc, have been stepped up further in the wake of the terror attacks last week, sources said.

Additional policemen have been deployed in localities with mixed population and places where `holika dahan' would take place tonight as a precautionary measure to prevent criminals and anti-social elements from disrupting festivities, they said.

Policemen have been put on patrol duty throughout the city for next two days to monitor activities of the people and suspected anti-social elements during prolonged celebrations of Holi in the city, sources said.- PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail