Jamshedpur : The district administration is making high security arrangements to ensure peaceful Durga Puja this season. Law and order machinery has been pressed into service with full speed to ensure peaceful conduct of the festival, with additional police force being deployed at several strategic locations.
As the Maoists have waged a poster campaign at Narga village along NH-33 under MGM police station and Lailam village in Patamda, both the place in East Singhbhum district, and in Chandil police station area in adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district. The posters were found fixed in the trees and community club hall’s wall at wee hours.
The local residents had spotted the posters which called upon the people to join naxalism and also urging the administration to stop the ongoing operation- green hunt. �We came to know about the act after we got a call from a local resident. On verification we found the information to be true. Soon we confiscated the posters. We are not sure if there is any other place where the campaign has been carried out,” said Seraikela-Kharsawan police official.
East Singhbhum district superintendent of police (Rural) Shailendra Kumar Sinha confirmed about the naxals’ poster campaign near Jamshedpur.
At the same time the administration has made it a point to see there is no let up in the policing in the Maoist infested areas of the district.
With puja fever gripping the denizens the security establishment of the district pulled up its shocks to make the five-day long celebration a trouble free episode in city and rural areas, equally.
Along with district police, RAF, Home guards, JAP would be deployed. Special focus would be on areas located on the outskirts of the city like Birsanagar, Govindpur, Sundernagar, Pursudih, Baghbera. The police control room will function for 24 hours.
Maintaining equal focus on the disturbed areas of the Ghatsila, Potka and Patamda blocks of the East Singhbhum, where Maoists influence is more than the police, the local establishment of the police has decided to provide adequate security there. Naxalities are known for their uncertain behaviour when it comes to violence and police cannot take a chance, at least, during the pujas.
Nonetheless, SSP, East Singhbhum , Amol V Homkar has maintained that police job in the Naxal infested areas would be as usual and there is nothing as �extra caution� on part of the police in the rural areas during pujas. It would be worth mentioning that Para Pujas have registered a sound growth in the remote areas of the district though, over the years and these puja pandals draw a good number of villagers, too.
Keeping in mind the huge crowds that congregate at various places across the city during the festive season, the police will set up watch towers to nsure safe immersion of idols.
`We are taking all necessary security measures to facilitate the pandal hoppers who will come to the city during Durga puja. The Durga Puja pandals are installed at 295 places in the city. The district administration has already convened meetings with Durga Puja organisers to prescribe a guideline for them.
The puja organisers have been asked to ensure installation of fire fighting system and also to provide identity cards to their volunteers. The norms for entrance and exit points in pandals have also been prescribed,� said a district official.
