SHILLONG: East Khasi Hills Police has requested for sanction of additional forces in view of the ensuing Durga Puja celebrations.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Sunday, East Khasi Hills Superintendent of Police M. Kharkrang said they have requested headquarters to sanction additional forces.
He mentioned that a substantial number of additional forces have been requested by the district police.
The request comes following a recent meeting held between the Central Puja Committee and the police establishment on the security aspect during the four-day Durga Puja.
The request for additional security comes in the wake of a 24-hour bandh called by the proscribed HNLC from 6 pm of October 1 to ‘protest’ against the killings of two people in East Jaintia Hills District in police firing.
According to Kharkrang, deployment of police personnel will not be same in all the puja pandals as it would depend on the assessment made the police.
He informed that police would lay more emphasis on certain Durga puja pandals which pull in bigger crowds.
Kharkrang informed that the police have asked all Durga Puja Committees to installs CCTV cameras in all the puja pandals.
In addition, the police would be conducting crash course for volunteers of the different puja committees where they will be taught the dos and don’ts of crowd and traffic management.
Reacting to a query, he said that the police do not foresee problems like last year when the celebrations were celebrated under tight security due to the ILP agitations.