Following Saturday’s blast at Pune’s German Bakery, which was classified as a “soft target,” the Maharashtra government has reviewed afresh security measures at malls, shops, multiplexes in addition to conducting security audits for vital installations or “hard targets.”
Chandra Iyengar, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, told journalists here on Monday: “Across the State there has been a reviewing and tightening of security. It does not necessarily mean increasing the manpower. A lot of the effort constitutes awareness building. The police are talking to owners of private establishments and restaurant owners about the security measures that need to be put in place and are working with them. Every police unit is looking after an area.”
Ms. Iyengar said that after the Pune blast, security audits had been done for the Israeli Consulate and Taj hotels and vital installations and places across the State such as thermal power stations and dams, religious places like the Haji Malang dargah in Kalyan and the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai and tourist spots like the Elephanta Caves in Mumbai and the Ajanta Ellora Caves in Aurangabad. “In the last two days we have revisited all the important locations to ensure the measures are in place,” she said.
As Pune’s Chabad House had been on the terrorist radar, Ms. Iyengar said a Quick Response Team would be positioned outside the Jewish centre regularly for Friday evening prayers, in addition to armoured vehicles.
