By IANS,
New Delhi : Helicopters, anti-aircraft guns and CCTV cameras are in place ahead of the main celebration for India’s 64th Independence Day here Aug 15 that will also see 8,000 security personnel keeping a hawk eye at the 17th century Red Fort.
Approximately 170 companies of police personnel and paramilitary forces will be stationed at strategic locations, including the Red Fort where the prime minister, the three defence chiefs and top government functionaries descend on the occasion, a police official said.
More than 35 CCTV cameras have been placed at various points, including crowded market places, and three helicopters will be brought in for air surveillance around Red Fort. Anti-aircraft guns have been positioned at strategic places.
No mobile phones, food packets and water bottles will be allowed at the Red Fort venue. Around 100 police control room vans will be deployed along the route taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the heart of the city to Red Fort where he will deliver his Independence Day speech.
Around 3,000 security personnel will also be deployed along this route.
According to the police official, a ground-to-air security apparatus will be put in place for the celebrations besides making the mammoth Red Fort area a no-fly zone.
An air defence mechanism will be in place around the venue to thwart any terror attack.
Delhi Police are intensifying checking at border points, the official said, adding they may also deploy spotters from other states to identify terror suspects.
Police are asking operators of guest houses, cyber cafes, telephone booths and taxi services to keep a watch on their customers and report suspicious people.
Localities around Red Fort have been sanitised and informers have been deployed in the area. Units of special security groups like Quick Reaction Teams, SWAT and Vajra will be deployed in and around the fort complex.
Besides the Red Fort and its surrounding areas, intense vigil will be maintained at key installations like the parliament complex, international airport, railway stations, inter-state bus terminals and metro stations.
Police have asked the general public to dial 1090 if they find anything suspicious anywhere.
To ensure complete security at Metro stations, 400 additional Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel are being deployed along with the existing troopers.
“Delhi Metro, which recently stopped frisking at stations, has resumed it prior to Independence Day,” a CISF personnel told IANS.
The frisking was stopped on the ground that the exercise was strenous as it was leading to long queues.
“The frisking might be stopped gradually after Independence day, but at certain major stations where the footfall is more, the frisking might continue,” the officer added.