Bhubaneswar: Around 100 police personnel, with prior service experience in Bhubaneswar, were briefly recalled to the city from across the state on Thursday to assist the commissionerate police, handling the Congress-sponsored assembly gherao. The personnel were strategically positioned to effectively manage any critical situations that might arise.
Intelligence reports had warned of potential widespread violence during the Congress protest. For the first time, police utilised experienced officers who had previously managed political rally-related crises. Police were jittery following their confrontations with Congress members near the assembly entrance on Tuesday and Wednesday after suspension of party MLAs.
Police were particularly worried about violence during a Congress-organised protest on Mahatma Gandhi Marg on Sept 6, 2012. That incident left several police personnel and Congress workers seriously injured. The incident gained national attention when protesters chased and attacked a woman constable, which was captured on camera.
“To avoid a repetition of the 2012 incident, extensive security measures were put in place. Over 80 platoons were deployed in and around the assembly. We established a four-tier barricading system with barbed wires between Master Canteen and Lower PMG on Mahatma Gandhi Marg to block Congress workers’ advancement towards the assembly,” a senior police officer said.
Police installed adequate CCTV cameras and deployed video teams to record any disruptive activities. Eight fire engines and two riot control vehicles equipped with tear gas shells and water cannons were stationed. Police established a temporary control room to monitor CCTV footage.