The Coldplay concert, at the Bandra Kurla Complex on Saturday, will be held under tight security cover, with the Mumbai Police and the security deployed by the organisers, monitoring all details.
The concert, part of the Global Citizen Festival, is expected to be attended by Indian and foreign enthusiasts, including political leaders from Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The police have drawn up three main focus areas for Saturday.
“The bandobast will focus mainly on crowd control, anti-sabotage measures and traffic management. While personnel deployed inside the venue will manage the crowds, which will be in thousands, those inside as well as around the venue will focus on anti-sabotage measures. The Traffic Police, meanwhile, will be deployed along all roads leading to the venue to ensure smooth flow of traffic, as there will be a lot of VIP movement,” said Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP Ashok Dudhe.
Sources said that the anti-terror cells of all police stations in Zone VIII, which spans Bandra (East) to Vile Parle (East), have for the last four days been engaged in intelligence gathering, while the top police brass are in touch with central intelligence agencies to check threat perception for the concert, which will witness performances from several western as well as Indian celebrities, apart from Coldplay. “Besides the local police, we have also asked Quick Response Teams to be on standby to ensure no law and order problems at the event or around the venue. Adequate security measures have been put into place and we are working in tandem with the private security personnel engaged by the organisers,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti.
Officials said that two contingency plans have been prepared for Saturday. While the first plan has been put into effect, the second will be enforced once Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirms his attendance.