Ram Navami: 29 senior police officers deployed at 10 ‘sensitive’ cop dists in Bengal
Times of India | 6 April 2025
12 Kolkata: Bengal Police has tightened security across the state to ensure peaceful Ram Navami celebrations, with strict measures in place to prevent any unrest. Leaves of cops have been cancelled till April 9. As many as 29 IPS officers from the rank of IGs and DIGs will be deployed in 10 police districts that have been idenified as ‘sensitive' following inputs by the intelligence wing. Besides, all senior officers of state police will monitor the stituation from Nabanna.
Top cops at Bhawani Bhawan remained tight-lipped about whether arms and bike rallies would be allowed but stated that any blatant attempt to disregard the high court order or any attempt to incite violence or fuel tension would attract legal action. "We deployed adequate force and devised our plans based on intel feedback and previous experience," said Jawed Shamim, ADG (law and order). The 29 senior officers joined their colleagues, including six police commissionerates and four district police areas: Howrah City, Barrackpore, Chandannagar, Malda, Islampur, Asansol-Durgapur, Siliguri, Howrah rural, Murshidabad, and Cooch Behar. All these areas have been reporting disturbances since 2017 – and especially in the last three years – ever since politics became an intrinsic part of the celebrations and an explosion in the total number of rallies held across the state.
Amid a shortage of CCTV cameras, Bengal Police is banking on drone shots and police body cameras . "Every bit of technology at our disposal will be used on Sunday," said a commissioner of police of one such commissionerate on Saturday.
"We have information that there may be attempts to put up banners and writings to instigate people. We lodged an FIR in rural Howrah. We have a couple of similar inputs from other areas too," said a top cop. Additional battalions have been kept ready.