With a few days left for the pronouncement of judgement by the Supreme Court on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, security has been beefed up across the state with the Centre rushing additional Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF) as asked by the UP government, to maintain law and order.
Earlier, the leaves of all field officers were cancelled and prohibitory order under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was promulgated in all 75 districts of the state.
Political and religious leaders have said that they would accept whatever judgement the apex court delivers and have appealed to the people to maintain calm after the judgement is pronounced. .
Meanwhile, an additional 40 companies of CPMF were despatched to Uttar Pradesh by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday.
The CPMF personnel and officers would stay in the state till November 18.
The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce its judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case before November 17 as Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi would demit office on that day.
Sources said that 15 companies of CPMF had been immediately rushed to UP. They include three companies each of BSF, RAF, CISF, ITBP and SSB.
Another 15 companies of CPMF would reach UP on November 11.
Besides, the Centre has also granted 10 companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) to the state till November 18.
“A total of 40 companies, including 16 companies of RAF and six companies each of CISF, ITBP, SSB and BSF, will be deployed in UP till November 18,” sources said and added that these companies would be deployed in 12 most sensitive districts and cities of UP.
Apart from Varanasi and Ayodhya, CPMF personnel would be deployed in Kanpur, Aligarh, Lucknow, Azamgarh and other places to maintain law and order and ensure normalcy during and after the Ayodhya verdict.
A report from Ayodhya, quoting District Magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha, said that tight security was in place before the Ayodhya verdict.
SSP Ashish Tiwari said they were ready to deal with any situation like terror attack, communal riots, public anger, threat to the disputed site and every nitty-gritty had been worked out to plug loopholes.
“A four-layered security plan has been put in place to deal with any situation. Besides, 16,000 volunteers in 1,600 localities of the district have will encourage people to remain calm and the same number of ‘digital volunteers’ will keep a vigil on social media.
The administration has also created several WhatsApp groups for volunteers to pass on information.
On the other hand, Congress has asked its leaders not to make any comment on the Ayodhya judgement.
In a meeting of UP Congress Advisory Committee, party’s national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recently asked leaders not to make any statement after the court’s decision and wait for the party’s official stand.
Meanwhile, UP Shia Central Waqf Board directed all ‘mutawwalis’ (caretakers of Waqf properties) not to allow use of any Waqf property to hold any programme, meeting or protest on the impending Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case.