Be on your toes to ensure safe Dasara

ADGP Alok Kumar holds a two-hour long security meeting with City Police top brass

Mysore/Mysuru: The City Police have been asked to take comprehensive security measures for ensuring safety during Dasara as lakhs of people are expected to pour into Mysuru as this year it will be a grand Dasara after two years of virus-hit celebrations which were subdued.

Reviewing security arrangements, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Law and Order Alok Kumar directed the Police machinery to gear up for the mega event that is a State festival.

Holding a two-hour-long meeting in the auditorium of the City Police Commissioner’s Office at Nazarbad last evening, the ADGP asked the Police top brass to utilise the existing forces and also summon Police forces from neighbouring districts to maintain law and order. Advance preparation is the key, he said.

All officers above the rank of Inspectors were part of the meeting. “Be ready with a blueprint of security arrangements to be implemented on Dasara procession day and draw City Armed Reserve, District Armed Reserve, Karnataka State Reserve Police and Mounted Police into the core security duty,” he said.

A slew of CCTV surveillance cameras and drones providing aerial footage of the events are among the measures that will have to be put in place. The security personnel at Chamundi Hill and Mysore Palace — the main venues of the events — and at Bannimantap Grounds — where the festivities conclude — will have to be provided with body-worn cameras so as to record the proceedings from various angles, all of which will be constantly monitored, Alok Kumar said.

In order to curb crime during Dasara, the City Crime Branch (CCB), Intelligence, Special Branch (SB) and Crime Investigation Department (CID) sleuths will have to be on their toes, keeping an eye on lodges, resorts and other accommodations where anti-social elements will take shelter, he added.

Tourists arriving from various destinations must be screened at entry points and door frame metal detectors and hand-held metal detectors must be used extensively, he added.

The Police mobile units will have to be constantly on the move. “In addition to the regular CCTV cameras along the procession route, additional cameras must be installed at various commercial establishments and surrounding places, all of which must be switched on for constant monitoring at the Command Centre, the ADGP said.

Appreciating the massive security arrangements made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mysuru in June this year, Alok Kumar asked the officers to make Dasara a grand success as the festival will be held at multiple venues. Many VIPs including the Governor, Chief Minister, his Cabinet colleagues, judges, Union Ministers and high-ranking officers will participate in the festivities.

City Police Commissioner Dr. Chandragupta, Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs) Pradeep Gunti (Law and Order) and M.S. Geetha Prasanna (Crime and Traffic), Assistant Commissioners of Police M.N. Shashidhar, S.E. Gangadharaswamy and M. Shivashankar were present.

This post was published on August 26, 2022 6:43 pm