Bangalore garrisoned for bundh

Bangalore garrisoned for bundh
Deccan HErald

Police are not jittery this time round. What with more than 20,000 police personnel being deployed for the dawn-to-dusk bundh on Monday in protest against the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Bangalore City is set to resemble a garrison city.

Police are not jittery this time round. What with more than 20,000 police personnel being deployed for the dawn-to-dusk bundh on Monday in protest against the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Bangalore City is set to resemble a garrison city.

The top brass of the City police are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to make the bundh an incident-free affair. Besides posting mammoth platoons at locations identified as sensitive, ban orders under Section 144 CrPC would be clamped on the City.

DCPs and ACPs are personally supervising to ensure that the behemoth of the security apparatus put up for the occasion, works without any hiccups. Four CISF and RAF battalions and 150 KSRP platoons will be manning their assigned posts from Sunday afternoon itself. Besides, platoons from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala police have been roped in exclusively for the bundh duty. They will be assisting local police personnel and homeguards in maintaining law and order, according to a senior top police officer who attended a security review meeting held here late on Saturday evening.

DG&IGP K R Srinivsan told Deccan Herald that members of the public must give expression to their stand on the issue peacefully.

Bangalore’s Joint Commissioner (Law & Order) of Police Bipin Gopalakrishna said: “Various organisations participating in the bundh have given the word that essential supplies would remain untouched”. “Based on our previous experiences, hundreds of cameras have been mounted at sensitive locations. Nearly 1,000 anti-social elements have been taken into preventive custody and if need be the numbers may swell."

Besides the men in khaki, all emergency services too will be ready for any eventuality on Monday. Bowring Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Rajiv Shetty said that a circular has been issued to all staff members to report for work on Monday and be ready for any emergency. "We will use our ambulances to pick them up. Food arrangements have also been made for all of them,” he said.

Mr Raju Chandrashekhar, chairman, Indian Red Cross Society’s blood bank, said the blood bank on Race Course Road, will function normally. In case of any emergency, public can contact 22268435, 22264205.