Ahead of the Republic Day celebrations, security agencies have alerted the Delhi Police personnel to look out for stray animals in and around the India Gate area on Thursday. According to senior police officers of the Delhi Police, they have been notified that alleged terrorists can hide a bomb in the belly of cattle.
“According to the security alert issued by the security agencies, as many as 15,000 police personnel, personnel from the Central Police agencies will be solely deployed in the India Gate area.
Sources said the Delhi police, is making all efforts to ensure a safe Republic Day. Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma has cancelled leaves of all police officials for January 26. Cops have been directed to keep sufficient bullet-proof jackets in every PCR van.
Areas around India Gate have been put under a massive security cover. The charge of ensuring security has been completely taken over by security units, both the Delhi Police and the Special Protection Group (SPG), and the Ministry of Defence from the CISF.
Sufficient canine squads from the CISF, ITBP, the Delhi Police and Army are sniffing out each and every inch of the area to look for sabotage devices like IEDs and bombs.
A multi-tier ground-to-air security ring has been thrown to thwart terror attacks at Indian Gate. Drone detectors and paragliders, apart from tyre killers at 44 blockades are also going to be put in place to secure the area. Over 9,000 men will be deployed. Around 500 CCTV cameras will be placed on the rooftops. “The area is sanitised a dozen times daily with the help of the dog squad and bomb detection teams. Quick response teams (QRT) patrol at the periphery. The CISF intelligence wing is sharing inputs with other agencies to strengthen the security rings,” said a senior CISF officer.