GUWAHATI:  Assam police will use drones and post its men in civvies in sensitive locations during the forthcoming popular autumn festival of eastern India called Durga Puja that begins on September 26 and will continue till September 30 next.

The police have made elaborate security bandobast all over the state covering all the Durga Puja celebration venues with the coordination of local district administrations and puja celebration committees in view of the intelligence inputs on militants’ bid to disrupt puja celebrations in the state.

A highly-placed police source informed that suspected militants belonging to ULFA (Independent) and NDFB (Songbijit) had hatched a design to infiltrate the state from across the inter-state boundaries to strike terror in the state during the puja celebrations.

The situation in the state has remained tense because of unrelenting protests by a section of indigenous people’s groups against the BJP-led NDA government’s attempt to grant citizenship to Hindu refugees from Bangladesh who have been staying in the country.

These indigenous people’s groups have maintained that grant of citizenship to Hindu Bangladeshi refugees pose grave threat to the identity of indigenous people who are already reeling under the pressure of unabated illegal migration from Bangladesh.

 Guwahati city police Commissioner, Hiren Nath informed the media that informed that drones would be deployed to monitor security situations in some sensitive venues of puja celebrations while police men in plain cloth will also be deployed in many places. It has been made mandatory for all the puja celebration committees to install CCTV cameras and engage sufficient number of volunteers during the puja celebrations.