DGP leads 10-member IPS team to Puri

BHUBANESWAR: DGP Sanjeev Marik on Friday led a 10-member IPS officers' team to Puri, primarily to fine-tune strategies for crowd control during the mega festival.
The state government expects a congregation of five million pilgrims during the nine-day Rath Yatra, starting July 18 in the crammed city.
"Crowd control will be a tough challenge for us as Grand Road gets choked with just a few lakh people.Throughout the day, we discussed measures on how to tackle the anticipated crowds," Marik told TOI. The top cop said the police were ready to handle the situation.
The police are on their toes as any lapse during Rath Yatra would cost the government dear in the wake of the Brahma Paribartan controversy. Marik said two groups of anti-terrorist squads would be deployed near the temple to thwart any untoward incident. "The personnel of Special Operation Group (SOG) have been trained in anti-terrorist operations. One team has already arrived in Puri," Marik said. ADG (intelligence) Sunil Roy said there was no threat to the festival.
ADG (headquarters) Satyajit Mohanty and ADG (law and order) Binyanand Jha laid stress on effective regulation of traffic. "We will ensure vehicles do not enter Puri. Diversions will be made at strategic points," Mohanty said. tnnIG Sanjeeb Panda, who has been entrusted with supervision of traffic, said police would issue traffic advisories for the public soon.