On New Year’s eve, Kochi under security blanket

Nearly 1,000 police officers to be deployed across city limits with largest concentration in Fort Kochi

The city will be turned into a fortress on Sunday as the police have joined hands with the Motor Vehicles and Excise departments to ensure that New Year celebrations passes off peacefully.

Nearly 1,000 police officers will be deployed across the city police limits with the largest concentration in Fort Kochi, the hub of New Year celebrations.

“The city has been divided into separate zones for combined operations of the police and MVD squads. Every single DJ party in the city will be under the combined monitoring of the police and the excise department as men in plain clothes will keep a hawk’s eye,” said A.R. Prem Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police.

Parking of vehicles will be banned in Fort Kochi from Sunday afternoon onwards. The jhankar service from Fort Kochi will be out of bounds for vehicles until after the transportation of people.

Guideline

P. Vijayan, Inspector General of Police, Ernakulam Range, on Saturday issued a detailed guideline to his team on how to monitor activities without spoiling the festive spirit. Officers were instructed to take special care to ensure that celebrations did not cause law and order issues or accidents or turn a nuisance for others.

The 16-point guideline asked the men in uniform to be friendly and polite with the organisers and participants of the celebrations. Strict action should be taken against ‘drug parties’ though not on hearsay but based on solid evidence.

Not just the organisers and participants, but those who gave the space for such parties should also be brought to book.

Steps should be taken to ensure that parties held aboard boats have in place all safety mechanisms to avert accidents. Action should be taken against those using loudspeakers indiscriminately. measures should be taken in places with past records of hooliganism in the name of celebrations.

Mr. Vijayan also urged the police to extent necessary crowd control measures at liquor outlets and help their smooth closure at the designated time. Special protection should be extended to tourists, especially women tourists.

Rural Police

The Ernakulam Rural Police have made elaborate security arrangements for New Year’s eve with over 2,200 police officers to be deployed through day and night.

Use of loudspeakers, holding of functions and bursting of crackers in public places without prior permission remain completely banned. Those caught driving under the influence of alcohol will be strictly dealt with.

Vehicle checking will be intensified. Bars will be under the surveillance of the police to ensure that their operations are restricted to the permissible time of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

A large number of officials, including women cops, will be deployed in plain clothes as well to check drinking in public spaces such as beaches and parks and to nab those found harassing women and children. Specially trained officers and a team of scientific experts will be deployed to crack down on the sale and use of narcotics.

The police will join hands with the excise department, railway police and Central Industrial Security Force to keep a close eye on the proceedings at the Kochi airport and Aluva and Angamaly railway stations.

Arrangements have also been made to keep beaches and parks under CCTV surveillance. In the event of an emergency, people may contact the following numbers for assistance - 0484-2621100, 9497980500, 9497962412, 9846100100, 1090, 1091, 1515, 100.