Mumbai police deploy 5,500 personnel to ensure law and order as rebel MLAs return

Mumbai police have deployed a force of nearly 5,500 personnel, supplemented by ten companies of the State Reserve Police Force, to ensure law and order in the city as rebel MLAs are expected to return to Mumbai.

Officials said that this number is expected to swell by Thursday based on latest on-ground intelligence inputs. Maharashtra Governor BS Koshiyari had on Wednesday asked Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to prove his majority on the floor of the house.

Anticipating that the rebel MLAs who have followed senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde might start returning to Mumbai by Thursday morning, the police on Wednesday deployed heavy bandobast all over the city.

According to police officials, security in the city will be manned by 2,500 constables, 1,250 female constables, 725 officers of the rank of assistant police inspector and police sub inspector, 225 police inspectors, 45 assistant commissioners of police and 20 officers of the rank of deputy commissioner of police and above.

These will be supplemented with ten companies of the SRPF and 750 extra personnel from the local arms division "We are still working on finalising the bandobast and the numbers might increase by Thursday," said Mumbai police spokesman DCP Sanjay Latkar.

The police have already secured the road leading from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport to the Vidhan Bhavan. Also, security at all other politically sensitive spots like the Mantralaya, the Shiv Sena Bhavan and the Matoshree bungalow has also been ramped up.

Repeated meetings have been held with local Sena office bearers, where they have been warned to not take the law in their hands and that strict action will be taken in case any of their action leads to disruption of law and order in the city.

The police have also extended duty hours of all police station personnel from eight hours to 12 hours till further notice.