BHUBANESWAR: Around 20 senior IPS officers will be assigned various duties for Rath Yatra in Puri which is scheduled to commence from June 27.
Sources said as per the tentative plan, Transport commissioner and ADG Amitabh Thakur will be in charge of temple security, inner cordon, and the chariots of the Trinity. He will be assisted by Crime Branch IG Sarthak Sarangi and Special Task Force (STF) DIG Pinak Mishra.
Similarly, ADG (Modernisation) Saumyendra Kumar Priyadarsi will be in charge of outer cordon and crowd management. He will be supported by three to four IPS officers including North Central Range IG Satyabrata Bhoi, Special Armed Police (SAP) IG Awinash Kumar and DIG (Provisioning) Charan Singh Meena.
ADG (Communication) Dayal Gangwar will be in charge of traffic and integrated control room and will be assisted by DIG Special Intelligence Wing (SIW) Kanwar Vishal Singh and Crime Branch DIG Battula Gangadhar. Director Intelligence RP Koche will be in charge of the overall intelligence sector and IG (Operations) Deepak Kumar will head the anti-terrorist squads. IG (Training), Biju Patnaik State Police Academy Anup Sahoo will handle the security of the VVIPs.
Sources said though Odisha Police has not received any communication so far, it is making arrangements anticipating the visit of either President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah during Rath Yatra. The in-charge of force deployment, their welfare and logistics will be ADG SAP Rajesh Kumar, and ADG Law and Order Sanjay Kumar will lead the security sector.
Earlier in the day, DGP YB Khurania chaired a high-level security meeting for Rath Yatra. Sources said after the Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed 26 lives and Centre’s subsequent Operation Sindoor, Odisha Police is on high alert for the chariot festival. “HIT teams will be deployed in Puri to immediately take action if any suspicious movement is noticed. Bada Danda (Grand Road) and the entire Puri town will be under a very close vigil from the upcoming weekend,” they added.
Police sources said a list of over 10 ‘unforeseen situations’ including movement of militants has been prepared and separate/special arrangements will be made involving multiple agencies to handle such sensitive situations. The stretch from Uttara on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar to Puri will be covered by AI-enabled CCTV cameras. Efforts are also being made to install CCTV cameras between Puri and Konark, they added.
An integrated control room will be set up at the Town police station in Puri from where CCTV coverage will be monitored, police said. Addressing mediapersons, Khurania said a mobile app will be launched for the visitors in which they can check the routes experiencing heavy traffic, and plan their movement accordingly.