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To ensure peaceful Holi celebration, the Uttar Pradesh government has reportedly sorted out about two dozen sensitive districts and decided to deploy Rapid Action Force (RAF) along with the local police and jawans of Provincial Police Services.
Reports confirmed that the government identified at least 20 districts as 'hypersensitive' for the upcoming Holi festival. Districts in the hyper-sensitive category include Agra, Aligarh, Prayagraj, Ambedkar Nagar, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Balrampur, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Ayodhya, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kanpur Nagar, Lucknow, Mau, Meerut, Moradabad, Shravasti, Varanasi and Sambhal.
ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said: "The move is to ensure that Holi is celebrated in a peaceful manner. There are 1.4 lakh spots across the state for the 'Holika dahan' on the eve of the festival. Last year, 19 minor incidents were reported during this period."
The ADG added that since 2016, there has been a considerable decrease in such incidents. He added that measures have been taken to avert incidents pertaining to the festival.
"These include monitoring by drones, deployment of RAF, and dividing districts into categories of hypersensitive and sensitive," the ADG said.
In these districts, companies of PAC have been deployed along with local forces and fire brigades.
"Police chiefs of all these districts have been asked to maintain vigil and those who are accused in previous such incidents will be kept under watch," the ADG said.
He also said that pending investigation in such cases must be prioritised by the district police chiefs and the probe must be completed. The district police chiefs have been asked to be cautious about various processions that are a part of the Holi festivities.
The ADG claimed that instructions have been issued not to allow any new route for the procession and also to take all necessary security measures where the procession will be taken out.