Sniffer dogs at Kumbh to keep watch on suspects

Calcutta News.Net
Friday 19th January, 2007 (IANS)

Apart from the hundreds of paramilitary and police personnel deployed at the ongoing Ardh Kumbh Mela at Sangam, sniffer dogs were pressed into service Friday to avert any possible terrorist strike at this pilgrim spot held sacred by millions of Hindus.

'Though we have plain-clothed policemen to keep a watch for suspected terrorists, and bomb detection squads are also on the job, we got these sniffer dogs to double check on possibly planted explosives,' A.C. Sharma, Uttar Pradesh's additional director general of police (law and order), told IANS.

'After all the mela (fair) is highly vulnerable and a soft target for terrorist organisations, so we cannot take any chances,' said Sharma, who came in from state capital Lucknow to personally oversee the security arrangements on the most crowded day of Mauni Amavasya.

Intelligence inputs indicating that 'undesirable' elements might have sneaked in under the cover of foreign journalists, led officials to carry out the physical verification of several international media persons camping here to cover one of the biggest human congregations on earth.

Over 10 million people have taken a holy dip at the confluence of three rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati here - since Friday morning. And officials estimate that at least 20 million would converge here by the day's end.

Senior police officials were seen taking rounds of different areas during the night and day. At least 200 additional armed police personnel were deployed to ensure smooth movement of the crowds through the day.

The administration has requisitioned police sleuths, specially trained in spotting terrorists. 'Drawn from terror-hit states like Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, they were on the job from day one of the festival,' said a police official.

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