NEW DELHI: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will soon take charge of security at five popular tourist attractions in view of an escalation of threat perception. These are the Indian Museum in Kolkata, the Konark Sun Temple at Odisha and three monuments in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad — Ellora caves, Bibi ka Maqbara and Daulatabad Fort.
The Indian Museum, which is Asia’s oldest and largest heritage trove, is the first on the list of these five places to be taken over by the CISF. Sources in the CISF confirmed the development and said the Ministry of Home Affairs had already issued an order. The museum has rare collections of antiques, armour and ornaments, fossils, skeletons, mummies, and Mughal paintings. Concerns for security of the museum were first raised in 2004 after the theft of a fifth-century Buddha bust.
The ASI-protected buildings the CISF is presently guarding are the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad, National Museum in Delhi and Victoria Memorial in Kolkata. The decision to deploy CISF personnel at the Konark Temple, Ellora Caves, Bibi ka Maqbara and Daulatabad Fort was taken after completion of a technical survey by the paramilitary force, which figured out the modalities of the new posting such as number of personnel that would be required, the security equipment needed and the kind of security that needs to be provided at these tourist centres. All the four monuments are ASI protected.
“The cost of deployment of CISF at these places are being worked out. The matter will go to then go to MHA,” said a senior CISF official.