Odisha DGP reviews Rath Yatra security preparedness

Puri: With barely two days left for the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and his siblings in holy town Puri on Sunday, Odisha DGP K B Singh reviewed security arrangements, law and order situation, security of devotees and traffic management for the grand event at a meeting held here today.

Security set-up for the grand fest this year has been divided into five sectors -temple, outer cordon, Nabajouban Darshan, Rath Yatra and crowd management.

“One is temple duty, second is cordon duty, third is chariot pulling, crowd management, VIP security, railway arrangement, control room duty and communications (signal) duty. It was decided at the meeting that single officers will remain in-charge of these responsibilities, who will have a fleet of men at their disposal to carry out their specific jobs,” informed DGP K B Singh briefing reporters after the meeting.

While IG Sanjeev Panda will remain in-charge of traffic management, IG Asit Panigrahi will remain in-charge of crowd management; ADG Satyajit Mohanty and IG Diptesh Kumar Patnaik will remain in-charge of cordon around the chariots.

Similarly, IG Soumendra Priyadarshi will remain in-charge of the temple (Sri Mandir).

Besides, overall security during the Rath Yatra will be vested in the hands of ADG Binayananda Jha.

As many as 12 police officers of S P rank will supervise security arrangements during the Rath Yatra.

Further, 28 ASPs, 68 DSPs, 136 Inspectors, 643 Sub Inspectors, 468 constables, 113 traffic constables, 1580 home guards, two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF), two companies of Special Operations Group (SOG), two companies of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force (ODRAF) and 127 platoons of policemen will be deployed during the Rath Yatra as part of the security arrangements.