Bhubaneswar: With the world-famous Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra scheduled for July 16 in Puri, Director General of Police Yogesh Bahadur Khurania chaired a high-level security review meeting at the State Police Headquarters on Thursday.
The DGP directed senior police officers to ensure foolproof security and seamless conduct of the mega festival. He emphasised zero tolerance for any lapses and instructed all officers to work in close coordination from the grassroots level to make this year’s Rath Yatra safe and incident-free for lakhs of devotees.
As per the tradition of Srimandir, key rituals will be observed on scheduled dates — Deva Snana Purnima on June 29, Navajauban Darshan on July 14, Rath Yatra on July 16, Hera Panchami on July 20, Bahuda Yatra on July 24, Suna Besha on July 25, and Niladri Bije on July 27.
Given the expected massive gathering of devotees from across the country and abroad, extensive security and crowd management measures have been finalised.Several new initiatives will be implemented this year. Eight additional parking zones have been identified to improve traffic management.
A special clearance party will be deployed ahead of the chariots for smooth movement of the three raths, while crack teams will remain active in crowded and vulnerable areas. Additional CCTV cameras will be installed at important locations, along with road dividers, delineators, and clearly demarcated traffic zones.
To prevent crime, the DGP instructed the Puri Superintendent of Police to conduct special drives in all police stations and carry out regular checks in hotels and lodges. Photos of habitual criminals arriving from other states will be displayed on LED screens at railway stations and bus stands. Coastal patrolling will be intensified with temporary police outposts, and tight security arrangements will be made at Puri, Bhubaneswar, Khordha, and Jatni railway stations in coordination with the Railway Protection Force.
The meeting also discussed deployment of security vehicles near the temple, K-9 squads, NSG-trained SOG teams, anti-stampede measures, and better coordination with the district administration for emergency response and smooth darshan of devotees. The DGP stressed quick accident management, inter-departmental coordination, and hassle-free arrangements for the safety and convenience of devotees during the entire festival period.
The meeting was attended by DG (Crime) Binaytosh Mishra, Director (Intelligence) R. P. Koche, Additional Director General of Police (Modernization) Soumendra Kumar Priyadarshi, Additional Director General of police (Railways and Coastal Security) Arun Bothra, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Sanjay Kumar, Transport Commissioner Amitabh Thakur, Additional Director General of Police (Communication) Dayal Gangwar, Additional Director General of police (SAP) Rajesh Kumar, IG (Operations) Dr. Deepak Kumar, IG (BPSPA) Anup Sahu, IG (Intelligence) Jai Narayan Pankaj, Director (SCRB) Shri Avinash Kumar, IG (Crime) Dr. Sarthak Sarangi, IG (Central) Satyajit Nayak, DIG (SIW) Akhileshwar Singh, DIG (Provisioning) Charan Singh Meena, DIG (Personnel) Jugal Kishore Kumar Banoth, AIG (Law and Order) Prabha Shankar Nayak and many other senior police officers were present. In addition, IGP (North-Central) Satyabrat Bhoi, DIG (Eastern) Pinak Mishra, SP (Puri) Prateek Singh were prominently present through virtual mode.
