A multi-layered security ring comprising over 1,000 Delhi Police personnel and those from various agencies has been deployed at the Red Fort, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on the 400th birth anniversary of Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur on Thursday, officials said. More than 100 CCTV cameras have been installed inside the Red Fort compound, they said.
Modi will also release a commemorative coin and a postage stamp on the occasion. According to the officials, the security ring includes NSG snipers, SWAT commandos, kite hunters, canine units and sharpshooters on high-rise buildings.
Amid the surge in Covid cases in the capital, social distancing rules will be mandatory, they said. "We have made adequate security arrangements by working in coordination with multiple security agencies to ensure all arrangements are in place, including from an anti-sabotage standpoint," a senior police official said.
The historic monument has been fully secured with the multi-layered security arrangements that we typically have on Independence Day, he said. "We are also being more vigilant due to the tense situation in violence-hit Jahangirpuri," the official added. CCTV footage from the cameras will be monitored the whole day at police control rooms located in and around the fort area, he added.
The authorities said agencies have been more vigilant and have stepped up security near the historical monument after a clash during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in the Jahangirpuri area of the city on Saturday in which nine policemen and one civilian were injured. The Central Armed Police Forces have been already deployed in the sensitive areas of north Delhi, Chandni Mahal, Hauz Qazi and the market areas, as a preventive measure to ensure no untoward incident takes places, the officials added.
"The women's SWAT team of the force, as always, are part of the security arrangements along with the PCR deployment," the police officer said. "PRAKHAR vans have also been deployed for intensive patrolling in and around the area according to the schedule of the program," he said.
According to the Union Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 400 'ragis' (Sikh musicians) will perform in a 'Shabad Kirtan' to mark the auspicious occasion.The program is being organised by the ministry in collaboration with the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. Chief ministers from many states and various prominent personalities from across the country and abroad will be part of the celebrations.
This programme on the 400th Parkash Purab of Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur is being organised as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.
