Odisha DGP takes stock of security arrangements ahead of Puri Rath Yatra

BHUBANESWAR: Director general of police Abhay, along with some other senior police officers, visited Puri on Sunday to take stock of the security arrangements for the nine-day Rath Yatra from July 12.
“The Puri SP will soon finalise the security blueprint. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government has banned the participation of devotees in the Rath Yatra. I appeal to the devotees to stay home for their good health and watch the live telecast of the festival on TV screens and mobile phones. I hope the devotees will cooperate with us as they did last year,” Abhay said.
Director (intelligence) Lalit Das, ADG (law and order) R K Sharma, IG (central range) Narasingh Bhol, DIG (intelligence) Anup Kumar Sahoo and Puri SP, Kanwar Vishal Singh attended the Rath review meeting.
Sources said this year’s security arrangements will be almost similar to last year’s.
Altogether 76 platoons of police force and 400 officers were deployed during the Rath Yatra last year, which was also celebrated without the participation of devotees owing to the pandemic.
“Like last year, our focus will be on enforcing the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC and preventing the devotees from coming to the Grand Road and near the temple. Since crowd control will not be an issue, we will not seek the deployment of Rapid Action Force during the festival. Around 60 CCTV cameras will be installed along the Grand Road,” another police officer said.
Unlike last year, the police personnel will not pull the chariots. The administration has permitted only servitors with RT-PCR negative reports to tug the chariots from the Jagannath Temple to the Gundicha Temple (the birthplace of the deities).
“Since cops will not pull the chariots, we may not conduct the RT-PCR tests of all the police personnel, who will be on Rath duty. Only those, who will have to be in the close or inner cordons of the chariots, will be made to undergo the RT-PCR tests. Police personnel will not be present inside the temple during the Pahandi procession of the deities from the sanctum sanctorum to the chariots,” the officer said.