Kolkata: Kolkata Police has posted additional police personnel in uniform as well as plainclothes at popular marketplaces like New Market, Gariahat and Hatibagan in the run-up to the puja as shoppers started thronging city shopping hubs since last week.
Officers said there have been reports about pickpockets and thieves targeting the crowded marketplaces.The molestation of a shopper at New Market last Saturday alerted the cops further as they deployed additional force from Lalbazar apart from the existing force of New Market police station on thoroughfares like Bertram Street, Lindsay Street, Free School Street, Hogg Street, Madge Lane and Humayun Place East.
Cops said officers of the Watch Section have also been alerted to keep monitoring the roads along the shopping hubs in south, central and north Kolkata and keep a close eye on the CCTV networks to prevent and apprehend any unlawful activities.