Vadodara to turn into fortress as Ganesh immersions and Eid coincide on Sept 5

Tuesday will witness the immersion of the Ganesh idol of the popular Juni Gadi Mitra Mandal, which passes through the communally sensitive old city area and keeps the city police on its toes every year. On Monday, Vadodara city Commissioner of Police Narasimha Komar said that tight security arrangements, including deployment of police officers from outside Vadodara to assist the city force, are in place for Tuesday.

Komar said, “Between September 2 and September 6, detailed security arrangements will remain in place in the city. We have the Juni Gadi Ganesh visarjan on Tuesday and there is Eid procession of the Muslim community scheduled for Friday… Many of the 1,700 registered Ganesh pandals in the city will carry out their immersions on the last day, on September 6. Therefore, the city police is prepared — with help from additional force as well as deployment of paramilitary forces and surveillance through technology, to ensure that the festivals pass off peacefully.”

Komar said that following the incident of the alleged desecration of a Ganesh idol on August 26, the city police had initiated preventive action including identification of individuals with history. “We have undertaken (area) domination exercises and are conducting foot patrolling under leadership of Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP) as well as Assistant Commissioners of Police (ACP) to send out a strong message of law and order to the communities… Anti-social elements, potential troublemakers and criminals have been identified and kept under watch. Preventive action has been taken under all police stations,” Komar said.

The Vadodara city police will be assisted by nine units of Paramilitary forces as well as 700 police personnel from outside the district during the five days of heavy bandobast in the sensitive parts of the city. Komar said, “Four SPs (Superintendent of Police), 10 DSPs (Deputy SPs), 23 DCP and ACP-rank officials along with 109 Police Inspectors and 210 Police Sub-Inspectors and constables from other districts will arrive in Vadodara to assist in policing. About 700 police personnel from outside as well as 1,500 homeguards will be deployed along with the city’s police force… A total of nine units of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rapid Action Force and BSF (Border Security Force) will be on standby.”

He said, “We will also use technology such as 1,900 CCTV cameras of the VMC (Vadodara Municipal Corporation) as well as 550 police CCTV cameras, 750 body worn, drone, eight drone cameras and GPS systems to monitor the processions in sensitive areas and keep eye on criminal activity.”

Stating that a contingency plan has been readied, Komar said that the anti-riot special striking force as well as the Quick Response Teams (QRT) will remain active at various points. “We have identified deep points and vantage points to attend to all roadblock incidents, emergency response systems are active and the cyber cell will monitor social media posts… Traffic diversions have been planned for better management,” he added.

Komar said that since the upcoming days of Ganesh immersions also coincide with Eid-e-Milad procession to be taken out in the city on Friday, the city police has initiated a dialogue with the religious heads and community leaders of the Muslim community to cooperate in the law and order deployment. “We have initiated a dialogue with the Muslim religious leaders and social activists to convey and seek cooperation in ensuring that the Eid processions are taken out in the afternoon and completed before the Ganesh immersions begin,” Komar said.

Police probe complaint of stone hurled at Ganesh pandal

The Vadodara city police on Monday initiated a probe into a complaint received from a Ganesh pandal, alleging that stones had been hurled at the pandal late on Sunday night.

Top police officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 3, Abhishek Gupta and Assistant Commissioner of Police Pranav Kataria rushed to the spot in Tarsali area of the city from where the complaint on the alleged incident was received.

ACP Kataria told The Indian Express, “We had checked the spot late on Sunday night and following the official complaint received from the organisers of the pandal, we have gone through the CCTV cameras. However, we are unable to clearly establish where the stones were hurled from… A probe is on, using other human and technical sources. If found to be true, action will be initiated accordingly.”