Security tightened for swearing-in ceremony of Mufti

A day ahead of swearing-in ceremony of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, a three-tier security paraphernalia has been put in place around the event venue.

Sources told Deccan Herald that with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other high profile dignitaries from across the country expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony, security agencies don’t want to take any chances on security issue. “All roads leading to Jammu University (venue for the ceremony) will be closed for general traffic from 11 am to 3 pm on Sunday for security reasons,” sources said. The decision to close down the roads was taken as part of the elaborate security arrangements for the event.

An SPG team has already arrived in Jammu for the function and they have taken over the security arrangements of the venue. A senior police official said elaborate security and traffic arrangements have been made for smooth movement of the VVIPS. “Apart from closing down roads heading towards Jammu University, there would be diversions on other routes around Jammu city to facilitate movement of VVIPs/VIPs. Sharp shooters have also been deployed on high rise buildings close to Jammu University to keep eye on suspicious movement,” he said.

“As multiple agencies are involved in the security apparatus, several rounds of meetings have already taken place to ensure fool-proof coordination during the event,” he added. Governor NN Vohra will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Mufti and his council of ministers. Besides Modi, several Union ministers, chief ministers of various states, members of parliament from various states and local leaders from both the BJP and the PDP are expected to attend the ceremony.

According to sources, as many as 1500 guests are expected to attend the ceremony. They maintained that from BJP side, LK Advani, Amit Shah, Arun Jaitley, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Ram Madhav, Ram Lal, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Smriti Zubin Irani and other members of parliamentary board of BJP are likely to attend the ceremony along with Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, who has been personally invited by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed.