Independence Day event takes place amid tight security cover

New Delhi: Nearly 70,000 Delhi police personnel were on their toes and kept a tight vigil over the national capital, especially around the Red Fort from where PM Narendra Modi addressed the nation, on the 71st Independence Day on Tuesday. 

The city was kept under an unprecedented ground-to-air security cover in view of the twin occasions of the Independence Day and Janmashtami festival. Thousands of security personnel, including 9,100 personnel from the Delhi police, were deployed in and around the historic Mughal fort, which saw the presence of senior ministers, top bureaucrats, foreign dignitaries and common people during the Prime Minister’s address. 

Two dozen Parakram Vans, manned by quick reaction teams of NSG-trained commandos, had been stationed in areas with high footfall to thwart any attempt by terror groups to disrupt peace. As many as 11 such vans had been deployed in the area around the fort.

Barricades were put up at various places where armed police and paramilitary personnel kept a strict vigil. Traffic personnel allowed only authorised vehicles to head towards the venue. 

“At the Red Fort, a special team of NSG snipers and commandos formed the inner layers of the security cordon, while anti-aircraft guns had been deployed to thwart any aerial intrusion by objects like drones and projectiles, senior police officials said.

The Delhi police had earlier in an advisory prohibited aerial activities across the city. Also, the police surveyed the areas in the vicinity of the Red Fort and collected details of over 9,000 people residing there. The buildings facing the Red Fort were secured by the police and paramilitary personnel.

Security along the route to be taken by the Prime Minister’s cavalcade from his official residence to the Red Fort was being monitored with the help of hundreds of CCTV cameras.