Urban legend: Go out, celebrate no slips in security this time

With just a day left for the city to soak in the festivities of the New Year, citizens are breathing a little easier as police claim they have left no stone unturned in their efforts to ensure safety. The Central Business District (CBD) and other hubs where the New Year celebrations peak at midnight, are like a fortress. In complete lockdown, with 1 policeman for every five citizens! Last year, Bengaluru police faced biting international criticism after a mass molestation shocker during New Year’s Eve 2016-17, on Brigade Road. This year,  the man of the moment, Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Seemant Kumar Singh assures MUJAHID DEPUTY, there will be no repeat of 2016.

What are the security arrangements taken by the city police on the New Year’s Eve?
The city police have made elaborate security arrangements for New Year’s Eve with the deployment of 15,000 police personnel of all ranks to avoid any untoward incident. The security force will have civil police, KSRP, CAR, home guards and civil defence. Besides this, there will be additional 500 Hoysalas and 250 police bikes patrolling the entire city. Around 500 CCTV cameras, in addition to existing ones installed by the law and order and traffic police, will be installed on MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, Koramangala, Banaswadi and other hubs. The BBMP has also been addressed to made necessary lighting arrangements in poorly lit areas.

What are the preventive measures the police have taken to avoid this year’s alleged mishap?
Let’s not comment on what happened this year on New Year’s Eve. For the coming one, we have made elaborate arrangements and this time we are specific about patrolling vehicles’ presence in the periphery as well. We have also made Naka points to ensure no untoward incident happens on the way, post celebration, as it is the time when people,  carried away by the festivities, try to force New Year wishes on others, in addition to the bylane patrolling by the police bikes and outer ring road patrolling by the Hoysalas to ensure people reach their destinations safely. 

What are the lessons learnt from previous year’s alleged molestation incident and the challenges the city police is facing this year?
Whatever happened in the previous year’s celebration will not be repeated this time as we have beefed up the security and have deployed best of strategies. Security and safety of ever-increasing crowds in the events will be a challenge to us for which we have made necessary arrangements. We request people to celebrate and let other celebrate to ensure a safe environment where everyone enjoys.

Are the security arrangements same across the city on New Year’s Eve or CBD is given prime attention?
The entire city is our focus but obviously, CBD gets our major attention given the population and the number of people turn out in the CBD. We are deploying around 2,000 police personnel in the CBD.

There are reports that the police have requested the Pubs and Bars owners in CBD to shut down their outlets an hour early before the usual deadline in the interest of women safety. If it’s true, will it ensure the safety of women?
This is not correct. We have given the 2 am the deadline to the Pub and Bar owners and we will see to it that they will adhere to the deadline.

What are the arrangements taken by the police to prevent nuisance in residential areas?
There will be no instance of a nuisance in the residential areas as we will have at least four Hoysalas and policemen on bikes patrolling the residential areas in each police station limits. In addition, we have Dial 100 service where people can lodge a complaint which will be responded immediately.

What are the measures taken by the police to prevent drunk driving and drag racing incidents?
Traffic police have been already instructed by the commissioner of police to not allow any two-wheelers on flyovers, cutting the chances of drag racing by youth. There will be drunk driving checking by both traffic and law and order police, and all the auto rickshaws and cabs will be checked to see if anything is going wrong. We have instructed all the officer to seize the vehicle of the rider/driver is caught drunk and take proper action.

There are reports that Al Qaeda may launch a terror strike in Bengaluru. Have the police received any official communication from the central intelligence in this regard? 
No. We have not received any communication in this regard and there are threats as such so far. However, we are taking elaborate anti-sabotage check, bomb disposal squad will be in place and we will do screenings of the people and the area. Garuda force and commandos will be placed at a strategic place to react immediately to any untoward incident. There’s nothing to worry about for there are no threats.