Concertina wire put on one of Naka near district court in Panchkula for ahead of verdict on dera chief case on Wednesday, August 23 2017. Express photo by Jaipal Singh
After getting requests from the Punjab and Haryana government to remain on stand-by to help in an adverse law and order situation in wake of the Dera chief court case verdict, the Army authorities have been told to closely monitor the situation in coordination with the state governments.
A senior official in Army Headquarters confirmed that the state governments’ request has been received through the Ministry of Defence. “As of now the situation on ground is being observed carefully,” the official said.The counsel for the Union government in Punjab and Haryana High Court also said that the request has been conveyed to the Military Operations (MO) Directorate.
While the Western Command headquarters in Chandimandir did not reply to any queries regarding the proposed deployment of Army columns to aid civil authorities, sources informed that preparations to deploy troops at short notice have been made.A senior Army officer said that contingency plans to deploy columns in any law and order situation always exits.
