CAA protest: 3K cops, drones keep eye on safety

The city police on Thursday deployed more than 3,000 personnel and used drones and CCTV cameras to cover August Kranti Maidan and the areas around it, in order to

The city police on Thursday deployed more than 3,000 personnel and used drones and CCTV cameras to cover August Kranti Maidan and the areas around it, in order to ensure a peaceful protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and prevent a riot-like situation that occurred in 2012.

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Pranay Ashok, deputy commissioner of police (operation), said, “We had deployed near around 3,000 security personnel, including local arms police, riot control police and state reserve police force. With the help of drones and CCTV camera network, we kept an eye on every suspicious activities and movement of the crowd. The security bandobast was successful.”

No one was detained or arrested, and no untoward incident occurred, the DCP said.

“We anticipated a huge turnout, and accordingly planned security arrangements,” said a senior officer. Police said the personnel posted at the two gates of the protest venue conducted checks on every person entering it.Officers said it was challenging to tackle the crowd when it was dispersing. “Usually, during such times, some trouble-makers try to take advantage by spreading rumours and pushing people to create a stampede-like situation. However, the extensive police presence prevented any untoward incident,” said an IPS officer. Organisers of the protest also thanked the state government and the Mumbai Police for giving permission for a protest.