Police security arrangements on birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev commendable

The Punjab police received praise for ensuring security arrangements for smooth and peaceful conduct of the recent fortnight-long 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Guru of the Sikhs, at the heritage town Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district of Punjab, which witnessed millions of devotees arriving here to pay obeisance from across the globe. It was the first event of its kind held over an extended period in Punjab.  Naunihal Singh, an IPS officer 1997-batch and Inspector General of Police (IGP), Jalandhar range, informed that it was a challenge to manage this small area that took the police a year to plan. “Our major handicap was absence of any legacy data to draw from. We went about planning very thoroughly, conducted surveys, studied anticipated load bearing capacity. The overall presence of 7000 police personnel employing zero arms concept was in sync with the religious sanctity of the event. About 1000 camera were operational including 500 installed by the police to keep an eye on every movement. About 250 police patrolling vehicles meant for live monitoring besides fire tenders, recovery vehicles and ambulances were part of the elaborate security system. For the first time in the state police history, about 3500 cops on duty in and around the town were put under Global Positioning System to ensure no laxity in duty”.