Mumbai is bracing for a massive security exercise on Anant Chaturdashi, when thousands of Ganesh idols will be immersed across the city. More than 21,000 police personnel will be on duty, aided by drones and artificial intelligence tools for route management and crowd monitoring, officials said on Friday.
The city expects the immersion of at least 6,500 community idols and 1.75 lakh household idols across beaches, water bodies and 205 artificial lakes, according to Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Satyanarayan Choudhary.
Senior police officers, including 12 additional commissioners, 40 deputy commissioners and 61 assistant commissioners, will supervise the deployment. The force will also include 3,000 officers and 18,000 personnel, along with 14 companies of the State Reserve Police Force, four of the Central Armed Police Forces, quick response teams and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads.
The police said that coordination with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had been finalised to ensure safe immersions. Lifeguards will be stationed at key sites, and the use of private drones has been prohibited. About 10,000 CCTV cameras will feed live surveillance data to command centres.
Also read: Bombay HC bars Ganpati idol immersion in natural water bodies
Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Kumbhare confirmed that traffic police would be out in strength to manage processions and prevent gridlocks.
Security preparations intensified further after a threat was received on the official WhatsApp number of the traffic police. According to officials, the sender, identifying himself as a member of an organisation calling itself “Lashkar-e-Jihadi”, claimed that 34 vehicles in the city had been planted with human bombs and warned that 14 Pakistani terrorists had entered India.
“Mumbai Police said, ‘Traffic Police in Mumbai received threats over their official WhatsApp number. In the threat, a claim has been made that 34 ‘human bombs’ have been planted in 34 vehicles across the city, and the blast will shake the entire Mumbai. The organisation, claiming to be ‘Lashkar-e-Jihadi’, says that 14 Pakistani terrorists have entered India,’” the statement noted.
Authorities said standard protocol had been activated, with all units alerted and additional checks ordered at vulnerable points.
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