2,000 cops to guard Rath Yatra procession in city today

Vadodara: Thousands of cops to stand guard in the old city area during the Rath Yatra procession on Tuesday. The police are taking additional security measures to avoid the repetition of the Ramnavmi procession riots that happened in March this year, even though Rath yatra has not witnessed any trouble for years.
“We will be deploying drones that will monitor the yatra route as well as the terraces of buildings in the old city. Also, we have identified over 300 persons involved in stone pelting in the last five years. Our teams are keeping an eye on them,” said Shamsher Singh, city police commissioner.
Nearly 2,000 cops will patrol the streets during the procession including seven DCP ranking officers, 15 deputy superintendents, 54 police inspectors and 119 sub-inspectors along with 500 home guards and three companies of state reserve police (SRP). To ensure smooth traffic flow, another 300 traffic cops and 300 personnel of traffic brigade will be out on the roads. Additionally, the cybercrime department is expected to monitor the social media for communally sensitive or controversial posts and make arrests of anyone posting provocative media. Preventative arrests of history-sheeters has also been undertaken.