Bhubaneswar: Security arrangements have been beefed up in six districts of Odisha, which have been marked as sensitive, to maintain the law and order situation during the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations on Friday. The action comes in the wake of the violence in Sambalpur during the ‘Jhanda Sthapana’ bike rally on Wednesday.
While 40 platoons of police have been deployed in Sambalpur district, additional forces have been deputed in Cuttack, Balasore, Bhadrak, Nabarangpur, Kendrapada and Koraput districts to ensure peaceful celebration of Hanuman Jayanti, especially when processions are taken out to mark the festival.
Additional Director General (Law and Order), RK Sharma, told the media, “All DCPs and SPs of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack have been directed to remain extremely alert on issues related to communal harmony and avoid any untoward incident during the celebrations.”
At the same time, all cyber crime police stations have been directed to keep a close watch on social media platforms and take action against people circulating provocative and hateful messages. It is worth mentioning here that Internet services have been suspended in Sambalpur for 48 hours after the violence on Wednesday. Section 144 CrPC has also been imposed in six police station areas in the district.
The Sambalpur district administration is going all out to instil confidence among people. While foot patrolling was undertaken on Thursday evening, the security forces took out a flag march in Sambalpur Town on Friday morning.
Meanwhile, following the meeting between the district administration and licensed akharas on Thursday evening, the authorities have given permission to take out Hanuman Jayanti processions in the district to select akharas.
A huge procession will be taken out from the Brukspal Hanuman temple in Sambalpur Town in the evening. The procession will start after ‘Maha Alati’ at the District College Square and will pass through the Laxmi Talkies Square, Bela Bazar Square to culminate at Shakti Square. Other smaller processions from different areas will join the grand procession at the Shakti Square through different routes.
