By Qaiser Mohammad Ali, IANS
Kolkata : An unprecedented three-layered security ring, comprising 5,000 police personnel, new gadgets and sniffer dogs will be thrown around the Eden Gardens for the second India-Pakistan Test starting here Friday, Police Commissioner Goutam Mohan Chakrabarty said Wednesday.
In view of the security threat to the players and also the volatile political situation in Bengal, the Kolkata Police is taking strict measures, including photographing every spectator in the 100,000-capacity stadium.
“We are taking no chances with the police arrangements in view of the threats. We are deploying more than 5,000 police personnel, both in uniform and plainclothes,” Chakrabarty told IANS.
“All 5,0000 personnel will be from the Kolkata Police. We are taking help from all our other sources to acquire electronic gadgets, bomb disposal equipment and the sniffer dogs. Of course, we have got these units with us, but we want to strengthen the security by taking help from other agencies too,” he said.
Chakrabarty said there would be multi-layered security and thorough frisking.
“There will be three layers of security checking and frisking and the movement of the spectators will be photographed by hidden cameras,” he said.
Since the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Prasun Mukherjee is Chakrabarty’s immediate predecessor, the task of making security arrangements much easier and hassle-free.
Security has been beefed up after a TV channel received threatening e-mails targeting Pakistani players.
Chakrabarty said that this time the spectators would be allowed to go out of the stadium only during the lunch break.
“Unlike usual practice of allowing spectators to leave their enclosures at both lunch and tea breaks, this time they will be allowed to go out only during the luncheon interval,” he said.
He said the spectators have been asked to reach the ground an hour before the start of play “because they have to go through a number of security drills like checking and frisking.”
Chakrabarty said that media personnel can carry their laptops and mobile phones, but the spectators will not be allowed to carry them.
Asked if it was the tightest ever security blanket for a Test at Eden Gardens, Chakrabarty said: “Every time there is a match we review our security and try to improve upon the previous arrangements.