50,000 cops deployed to secure Delhi on Republic Day

New Delhi: More than 50,000 security personnel from the Delhi police and Central security forces are guarding every nook and corner of the city on the occasion of Republic Day.

A team of NSG commandos, armed with sophisticated weapons, will guard VVIP enclosures. The 8-km parade route from Vijay Chowk to Red Fort has been fortified and no traffic will be allowed on this route from Wednesday afternoon till the parade gets over on Thursday.

Also, the Delhi police and paramilitary personnel will be keeping a tight vigil on Republic Day in the national capital on Wednwsday with an eye on the movement of animals in view of intelligence inputs that terror groups might use them as suicide bombers.

This time, the police will use anti-drone technology to thwart any attack or identify any suspicious flying object, a senior police officer said. “From ground-to-air, every corner of the city is under security cover. All high-rise buildings falling on the parade route have been vacated. Commandos armed with snipers will be deployed in these buildings,” said a senior police official.

From the midnight of Wednesday, Delhi borders have been sealed and all cars entering the national capital were checked thoroughly, he said. CCTV cameras have been installed and eight control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras, the officer said.

“On Republic Day, for Line 2, entry and exit at Central Secretariat and Udyog Bhawan metro stations will closed from 6 am up to 12 noon. Patel Chowk and Lok Kalyan Marg (erstwhile Race Course) Metro stations entry and exit will be closed from 8:45 am to 12 noon.

“Central Secretariat station will only be used for interchange of passengers between Line 2 and Line 6,” the DMRC said in a statement. In addition, all metro parking lots will be closed from 6 am on January 25 to 2 pm on January 26 as part of the security arrangements.

Briefing media persons on security arrangements for the Republic Day parade, the Delhi police said that no visitor without valid card will be allowed to pass from the  security check points to see the parade. They appealed to the people to inform police in case they see any unidentified object or suspicious activity. As a precautionary measure, light machine guns (LMGs) have been positioned at several points along the parade route.

“A ‘NOTAM’ (Notice to Airmen) will also be declared for a few hours on Republic Day, during which no flights will land or take off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport,” the officer said.