A massive procession of Ganesha idols, mostly from East Bengaluru, will culminate at Ulsoor lake on Sunday evening. The police have made massive security arrangements for the same, as the procession passes through several communally-sensitive neighbourhoods.
The East Division Police, led by DCP Bhimashankar Guled, took out a route march. The personnel deployed for bandobust did a route march in Govindpura, K.G. Halli, and D.J. Halli police station limits.
The march was conducted mainly from the entire stretch of Nagawara junction to Pottery Circle and in sensitive areas like Rashadnagar, Umarnagar, Govindapur village, and Nagawara village.
The RAF, the KSRP, and the CAR units also participated in the route march.
“All precautionary measures have been taken and the police are geared for Sunday’s bandobust,” Mr. Guled said. Some of the precautions include installation of CCTV cameras en route, the use of drone cameras, a liquor ban in all eight police station limits in and around K.G. Halli area.
“As an innovative measure this time, around 250 body cameras will be donned by our officers deployed on duty to monitor the procession,” he added. Traffic movement has also been diverted along the procession route.
Meanwhile, members of the Chamarajapet Ganeshutsav Samiti, a body pushing for Ganesha festivities at Idgah maidan, on Saturday staged a protest in front of the police station, accusing harassment over their demand for a route of the immersion procession.
Samiti members shouted slogans against the police for a few minutes before they were detained and taken to the City Armed Reserve grounds as part of preventive detention.
A committee which was granted permission for Ganesha idol installation on the Ayyappaswamy temple premises till September 10, have been asked to seek separate permission for the immersion procession.
The samiti, alleging harassment, said that the police have imposed too many restrictions, asking it to get separate permission for the immersion procession along with details of the route.
The police also stated that permission would not be granted if the route of the procession was not submitted.
