BHOPAL: Artificial Intelligence powered security systems will play a key role as the administration and police gear up to ensure peaceful Basant Panchami prayers and three hour Friday Namaz at separate spaces within the disputed Bhojshala Temple Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar town, in accordance with a Supreme Court order issued on Thursday.
An unprecedented security cover, comprising more than 8,000 personnel from the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force’s Rapid Action Force (RAF), has been deployed in the communally sensitive district headquarters town. AI forms a crucial part of the multi layered security arrangements.
Every nook and cranny of the town, including individual houses and rooftops, has been mapped using AI, LiDAR and 3D city mapping technology.
This is aimed at ensuring that security personnel, particularly those deployed from other districts and outside the state, have precise maps with pinpointed locations of every locality in the town.
The maps, prepared in advance, will help security personnel locate and reach specific areas quickly in case of any eventuality.
Adding to the arrangements are AI enabled drones that will fly at regular intervals, providing real time data on crowd density fluctuations across various localities, especially around the Archaeological Survey of India protected complex and other identified sensitive areas.
“Based on the real time data fed by the AI enabled drones, the centralised command control room will monitor crowd movement across the town and issue alerts in real time to security personnel about specific locations where enhanced crowd management or immediate security assistance is urgently required,” Inspector General of Police (Indore Range) Anurag told TNIE on Thursday.
All personnel deployed have undergone special training to operate AI software and interpret 3D maps.
More than 7,000 state police personnel, including the state paramilitary force, along with eight RAF companies of the CRPF, have been deployed across the town following a detailed threat assessment.
Another 1,500 to 2,000 police personnel have been kept on standby to reinforce sensitive areas across Dhar district, if required.
More than 20 Indian Police Service officers, including one Inspector General, four Deputy Inspectors General, 10 Superintendents of Police, along with Assistant Superintendents of Police and Deputy Superintendents of Police, will supervise the security arrangements throughout Friday.
Over 930 women police personnel will be deployed to ensure that female devotees face no inconvenience during Basant Panchami prayers.
To prevent any escalation, prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, have been imposed.
The administration has also declared a no fly zone within a 300 metre radius of the Bhojshala Temple Kamal Maula Mosque complex on Basant Panchami.
All aerial activities, including drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, paragliding, hot air balloons or any other flying objects, have been strictly banned.
The storage of construction material, debris, tyres or unattended stalls on public roads has also been prohibited to eliminate potential security risks.
As part of preventive measures, authorities have reportedly taken bonds worth more than Rs 40 crore from 4,526 individuals identified as having alleged criminal tendencies, under a comprehensive bond over action to prevent any untoward incident.
Dhar district Superintendent of Police Mayank Awasthi said, “Continuous engagement is underway to strengthen communal harmony.”
According to sources, the administration has so far conducted 31 Mohalla Committee meetings and 21 meetings with members of the Muslim community to defuse tensions and build trust.
Importantly, this will be only the third time in the 21st century that Basant Panchami falls on a Friday, with similar coincidences having occurred in 2006, 2013 and 2018.
The festivals in 2006 and 2016 reportedly passed off relatively peacefully, barring a few stray incidents in the town during the evening in 2016, despite opposition from Hindu groups to allowing Friday Namaz for two hours in the afternoon. In 2013, however, significant tension prevailed on Basant Panchami on February 15 following clashes between Hindu groups and the police.
According to a senior police officer currently posted at the state police headquarters, who was then deployed in Dhar, the police had to use force three times from morning to evening on February 15, 2013, to disperse activists of saffron outfits.
The groups were allegedly determined to take prohibited articles inside the monument or take the law into their own hands to oppose the entry of Muslim worshippers for Namaz during the stipulated two hour period.