lutyens’ Delhi will be virtually shut down for three days and road and highways connecting the city to Agra out of bounds for general commuters as the national Capital braces up to meet the security challenge for the upcoming visit of US President Barack Obama.
Obama will be here as chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations at the historic Rajpath and will also visit Agra to see the Taj Mahal. In the run-up to his arrival, an advanced liaison security team of the US held deliberations with the Delhi Police and Central security agencies on Friday for ensuring the safety and security of the visiting dignitary.
Source said that there will be an exhaustive ground-to-air security cover with the entire might of the Delhi Police being pressed into service. They will be assisted by over 10,000 men and officers from the Central security police forces. President Obama is expected to visit Agra on January 27.
Security agencies have advised the Delhi Police and the neighbouring States to seal all the roads leading to Agra a day before Obama’s visit. This is a precautionary measure as the US President will fly by helicopter to Agra.
During an inter-State co-ordination meeting with neighbouring States, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi reportedly asked the officers to keep a watch on open area for flying of para-glider, micro-light aircraft, sharing information, conducting raids and concerted action against inter-State criminals.
Intelligence intercepts suggest anti-India elements may try to launch an air attack to disrupt the celebrations. Security agencies have placed a stringent security blanket to thwart any such design, sources said on Friday.“Indian Capital is on the radar of many terrorist outfits in view of the Republic Day celebrations.
President Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be at the ‘saluting pad’ at the Rajpath and maintaining the security for two highly-secured leaders will be quite a challenge but we are ready for this,” said a senior officer. Unprecedented security measures are afoot to ensure that nothing untoward happens, the official added.
There are indications that entire New Delhi district will be out of bounds for the general commuters for three days. Entire India Gate area will sealed on January 22 onwards for the full dress rehearsal on January 23. Normally, half holiday is declared on this day. But this time round, the offices of Central Government in the lutyens’ Delhi will remain closed and no in-bound traffic will be allowed from all the main and radial roads towards Rajpath. Delhi Traffic Police officials have drawn an elaborate traffic plan for the New Delhi district and it will be fully insulated from general traffic starting from the night of January 21 onwards. Since the Republic Day falls on Monday, it will be easier for the security agencies to fortify the New Delhi district for the celebrations.
The Delhi Police is also in touch with its counterpart in Uttar Pradesh for ensuring the security of the US President during his visit to the Taj Mahal at Agra. Sources said that Delhi-bound traffic to Agra from the Faridabad and Express Highway side will be diverted. Security agencies have also asked the Rajasthan Police to stop traffic from Bharatpur side to Agra. Intelligence agencies are also keeping a watch on certain suspect s in Haryana’s Mewat district following the reports about Pakistan’s notorious Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) having made inroads into few radicals of the area.
One of the objectives of the Friday meeting was to share terror-related Intelligence inputs about various terrorist groups and their designs in view of the Republic Day celebrations. Senior officers of the Delhi Police and their counterparts from Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and J&K attended the meeting.
Bassi reportedly stressed on increasing police presence, intensive and co-ordinate checking at vulnerable points, tenant verification, guest house checking and sensitisation of cyber café owners, second-hand car dealers, transporters, property dealers, cycle sellers, chemical dealers and STD/ISTD and PCO booth owners. Emphasis was laid on traffic issues such as diversion of heavy transport vehicles and checking of vehicles on borders on January 23 and 25 and vehicle checking at unmanned border points in tandem with each other.