Police To Form Special Teams To Keep Vigil On Criminals During Durga Puja In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: With Durga Puja fast approaching, the Commissionerate Police has made elaborate arrangements to ensure that the residents of Bhubaneswar celebrate the festival without any inconvenience and hassles.

Necessary steps have been taken to form special teams of police personnel to keep a close watch on the criminal elements entering the state capital from outside Odisha.

Extra vigil is being maintained in view of past experience in the city which witnessed a surge in theft and snatching incidents during the nine-day festival in recent years. Quite often, criminal elements from states like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar enter the city to commit offences in groups.

Special teams will be formed in different areas of the city to keep a close watch on the anti-socials coming from other states. Each team will be headed by an officer and will visit different hotels and lodges to find out whether any suspicious person has checked in, Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Prateek Singh said.

Taking advantage of crowds in puja pandals and market areas, the anti-socials coming from other states and districts indulge in snatching and other crimes during the festivities. Therefore, monitoring of CCTV footage through the integrated command and control centre in the city will be enhanced for effective vigil.

The puja committees will be asked to ensure proper CCTV coverage at the pandals. A close watch will be maintained to prevent anti-social elements from indulging in snatching and other crimes like in past years, police said.