GUWAHATI: Sniffer dogs have been pressed into service in Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport and Guwahati Railway station even as security has been geared up in Assam in the run up to Independence Day.
Security personnel in Guwahati airport have made use of sniffer dogs to augment security in the airport.
Security of the Guwahati Railway station has been beefed up considerably by Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) in view of the coming Independence Day celebration. Guwahati is the biggest railway station of the Northeast with a footfall of 40000 passengers everyday while more than 30 pairs of trains pass through this station daily.
The CPRO of the NF Railway, P J Sharma informed that a quick reaction team comprising 13 fully-armed Railway Protection Security Force (RPSF) jawans along with 26 RPF personnel under one officer had been on shift duty at the station. Thirty GRP personnel along with 10 CRPF jawans are also helping in maintaining security of the station in each shift.
In order to improve the overall security some measures have been taken like; area domination by posting additional manpower in the main concourse area, main entrance, Paltan Bazar gate, reservation halls, foot overbridge, platforms etc., to ensure effective access control. Separate entrance and exit points have been formed to regulate the crowd. The main concourse area has also been barricaded. Sniffer dogs have been deployed in three shifts to perform anti sabotage checks. Random frisking of passengers with the help of hand metal detectors is being carried out. Round-the-clock monitoring by CCTV of all vulnerable areas is also being done.
In addition to above, instructions have been issued to concerned departments to frequently check the dustbins, cloak rooms, parcels, parking area etc. Interactive sessions with the coolies, vendors, taxi/auto rickshaw drivers have been organised to brief them to keep watch over suspicious persons and article. Frequent announcements through public announcement systems are also being made to create security alertness among the passengers.