Addressing a press conference at the Kolkata Police Headquarters, Verma said nearly 4,500 police officers would be deployed in the city on December 31 and January 1 to prevent untoward incidents.
Watch towers have been set up to monitor crowds and the traffic police would also maintain a strict vigil on reckless and drunk driving to prevent accidents and maintain road safety, he said.
Attention will be paid to ensuring the safety and security of women, children, and senior citizens and emergency services and patients will be given safe passage, Verma said.
He said, “Special teams in plain clothes will be there, also anti-crime measures team will be deployed and police assistant booths will be located at strategic locations and more than 50 naka points have been identified. With all kinds of inputs we have made arrangements. Kolkata police STF and other units have also been activated.”
The Police Commissioner said personnel are also surveilling the city’s hotels and guest houses and have asked the managements to verify the backgrounds of their employees also.
“Because of the timely intervention of Kolkata Police, the recent arrests (of two Bangladeshi infiltrators) were possible,” Verma said.
This comes days after the arrest of six persons in a fake passport case over the past few days. Two Bangladeshi nationals living illegally in the city were arrested with fake documents by personnel of the Park Street police station.
Addressing the concerns related to illegal Bangladeshi immigrants managing to secure Indian passports with fake documents, Verma said, “We are abiding by the guidelines of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and detailed discussions have been held with officers of different police stations.”
“It is due to the surveillance that some people have been arrested. Detailed instructions have been given to the police department on what needs to be done and special surveillance is going on,” said Verma.
Officers are visiting homes to verify the documents of passport applicants and the Kolkata Police are coordinating with the passport office to ensure there are no lapses, he added.
The West Bengal Police on Thursday night arrested a Bangladeshi national Mohammed Abidur Rahaman, 37, who has been illegally living in Kolkata for the past one year. He was produced in Bankshal court, which remanded him to police custody until January 6 for further questioning.
A fake Aadhaar card and PAN card have been seized from Rahaman, who is a resident of Narail district, Bangladesh, the police said on Friday. Rahaman claimed that he obtained the fake identity cards from an unknown place in North 24 Parganas, the police said.
Another Bangladeshi was arrested from Marquis Street near Park Street for living in Kolkata for years with fake documents. He was working at a lodge, police said.
Last month, former Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Salim Matabbar, a resident of Bangladesh, was arrested last month for illegally staying in India.
Matabbar was living in Kolkata for the past two years as ‘Ravi Sharma’ and was arrested from Park Street on November 29 and all his fake documents were seized. The police filed a case against him under the Foreigners Act and have also charged him with sections related to cheating.
— WITH PTI