MYSORE: Elaborate security arrangements ensured a hassle-free jamboo savari on the final day of the annual Dasara. With help from Rapid Action Force (RAF), Quick Response Team, DAR, CAR, KSRP, Home Guards and Traffic Wardens, bomb disposal and anti sabotage teams, the city police successfully managed the crowd along the procession route. Separate enclosures for ticket and pass holders made it easy for the police to manage the crowds.
Validators helped the police check the authenticity of passes and tickets. Metal detectors were also installed at select points. The city police also took help of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to monitor the crowds.
This is for the first time the RAF was deployed at all the entry points of the Palace along with local police. To avoid inconvenience to VIPs, VVIPs and gold card holders, separate entry points were identified. To prevent supporters of politicians from crowding the VVIPs venue, makeshift arrangements were not made near the venue. Though there were doubts about the strength of stone railings installed on either side of raja marga, the police used them to effectively manage the crowds.
Meanwhile, a person was detained on Alber Victor Road for pick-pocketing one Ningappa from Raichur, who arrived in the city for Dasara. The police recovered `5,000 from the accused.
People climbed compound walls, trees and terraces along the procession route to watch the jamboo savari. However, the police prevented people from climbing the Devaraja Market, a heritage building. Nonetheless, when compared to the previous years, the crowds were smaller and the number of police personnel deployed was higher. While the jamboo savari route was buzzing, people could be hardly seen in the rest of the city.
CM Taken to Dasara Venue in Open Jeep
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was taken in an open jeep from Kote Anjaneyaswamy temple to the podium erected for the inauguration of Dasara finale. Unlike the previous years when the chief minister and other ministers would arrive in a Volvo bus to offer Nandi puja at Chamraja circle and would leave for the inauguration in the same bus, Police Commissioner M A Saleem arranged a special jeep for Siddaramaiah and Ministers Srinivasa Prasad, H C Mahadevappa and H S Mahadeva Prasad. They were accompanied by mounted police. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah, after offering puja to Nandi Kamba, surprised everyone by lifting the Nandi Kamba and dancing a few steps to mark the inauguration of Dasara festivities.