The Delhi Police checked more than 3,000 buses entering the city from western Uttar Pradesh after receiving a tip-off that beef may be carried into Ramlila Maidan, where the Vishva Hindu Parishad had organised a rally on Sunday.
A senior police officer said preventive measures were taken after the Bulandshahr incident, where violence broke out after cattle carcasses were allegedly found in a field.
“We instructed the officers to keep a check on the movement of buses ferrying people attending the event. All buses were checked at the borders before they were allowed to enter the city,” said a senior officer. The movement of buses started late on December 8 and continued till Sunday morning.
Event ends peacefully
The police said they were alerted by intelligence agencies about the possibility of beef being transported to the city in a bag to “disturb” the law and order situation at the event. However the event ended peacefully, they said. “Multilayered security was planned and vehicular movement was restricted near the ground,” the officer said.
Ramlila Maidan has a maximum capacity of 70,000. The police estimate that around 1.5 lakh people attended the event, including the floating crowd. The ground was packed from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We made all necessary arrangements in and around the ground. Policemen were present in plain clothes in nearby areas to keep a check on suspicious activities, if any. The staff were briefed about crowd management. The venue was cleared by 5 p.m.,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Mandeep Randhawa.
The officer said around 4,500 police personnel, including the reserve police force and 2,000 traffic policemen, were deployed at Ramlila Maidan. Security personnel were also deployed at Dargah Faiz Ilahi Masjid, which is adjacent to Ramlila Maidan.
“In a meeting with the locals before the event, we requested them to reach out to us if they face any difficulty in moving or out of the area,” Mr. Randhawa added.
“Snipers were stationed on high-rises near Ramlila Maidan as part of security arrangements for the rally,” the police said.
All district DCPs were instructed to remain vigilant and patrol their respective areas from 6 a.m. till the end of the event. All borders were under the scanner and the police monitored the movement of the crowd entering the city from UP and Haryana.
The entire event venue was divided into 11 zones and each was under an Additional DCP-rank officer.
200 extra cameras
In addition to existing CCTV cameras, 210 more were installed in and around the grounds and on routes leading to Delhi Gate and Rajpath. Four special control rooms were set up to monitor the feeds and pass on instructions.
