Rath Yatra: RAF Conducts Mock Drill Before Jagannath Temple In Odisha’s Puri

Puri: As part of security exercise for Rath Yatra this year, security forces conducted a mock drill in Odisha’s Puri town on Saturday.

Following a coordination meeting of various wings of the police department on security measures during the car festival on Thursday, personnel of Rapid Action Force (RAF), led by Ashish Kumar Singh, IG (Central Range), conducted the mock drill in front the Singha Dwara (LIons Gate) of Jagannath temple in the pilgrim town.

Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh and senior officials of the RAF were present during the exercise. As per the decision at the meeting, the RAF has been assigned the responsibility of the outer cordon of the chariots, said Shailendra Kumar, second-in-command of RAF.

The SP said the security forces conducted spot rehearsal of the security arrangements for the Rath Yatra which will be celebrated on June 20.

At the meeting, it was decided that 180 platoons of police will be deployed to look after various aspects of security during the festival.

At least 45 platoons of police will be deployed exclusively for crowd control and traffic management during the 9-day festival. Besides, CCTV cameras will be installed inside Jagannath temple and around its boundary wall and different streets of the town. A control room will also be set up for coordination among the police personnel, ADG Amitav Thakur had said after the meeting.