The Hindu : Front Page : Security blanket spread over city

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Friday, Sep 14, 2007
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Security blanket spread over city

Staff Reporter

Over 15,000 personnel from neighbouring districts drafted for duty

- PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar

EXTRA-CAUTIOUS: Police forces patrolling the Pathergatti area in the old city on Thursday

HYDERABAD: Unprecedented security arrangements have been put in place with a massive police force taking over the nook and corner of the State capital in view of the nine-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival beginning from Saturday. More than 15,000 personnel from the neighbouring districts have been drafted for security arrangements to assist the 8,000-strong city police.

With the twin bomb blasts and the Mecca Masjid explosion still fresh in the memory and the startling disclosure about terrorists smuggling RDX into the State capital, the city police does not want to leave anything to chance.

Top priorities

Frisking, searching and checking appear to be the top priority duties of the police. Patrol teams have been flagging down vehicles at random and subjecting commuters to checks irrespective of the time. “I have been stopped thrice before I reached my home last night,” a commuter exclaimed. Eighteen watch towers, each of nearly 20-feet height, are being erected in the communally sensitive old city. A 10-member special team provided with binoculars, video cameras, wireless sets and mobile phones would be positioned on it to keep an eye on suspicious persons.

Extensive foot patrolling with over 500 special teams, each comprising four to six policemen, were formed. Police top brass hope foot patrolling would increase visibility of police and infuse confidence among Hyderabadis shaken with the recent terror strikes.

Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh has travelled the main and subsidiary procession routes passing through different zones of the city instructing the DCPs concerned to step up security at some points he found vulnerable.

Except the Special Investigation Cell investigating the Mecca Masjid blast and the twin blasts, the city police’s priority is ensuring a peaceful Vinayaka Chavithi.

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