Tight security arrangements have been made in major cities in Uttar Pradesh given Friday prayers and also the protests over 'Agnipath' scheme. Drone surveillance will be carried out in sensitive areas, officials said.
While police across the state have been put on high alert for Friday prayers, the government has deployed additional state and central paramilitary forces as a precautionary measure to contain any sporadic outbursts. In addition, 200 companies of PAC and 50 companies of Rapid Action Force have also been deployed in the state to maintain peace.
The special focus is on security in Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, and Saharanpur. So far 357 persons have been arrested in nine districts for the violence after Friday prayers in some of the districts on June 10.
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Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avanish Awasthi, and DGP DS Chauhan have told the senior police and district officials that strict action would be taken in case of any laxity on Friday. A home official said the police and administrative officers were told to cooperate and communicate with the prominent religious leaders in their jurisdiction.
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CCTV, video cameras, and drones will be used in all the sensitive places as per the requirement. ADG, law and order, Prashant Kumar, said 53 districts have been identified under two categories: hyper-sensitive and sensitive.
Among 24 hyper-sensitive districts are Prayagraj, Lucknow, Kanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Ayodhya, and Varanasi while 29 sensitive districts include Etah, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Barabanki, and others.
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"These 53 districts will be under the watch of DGP headquarters on Friday. Drones will be used for surveillance in the narrow lanes and alleys of hypersensitive districts," he said.
Apart from digital volunteers, cybercrime teams have been maintaining a strict watch on social media and appealed to people not to post derogatory or inflammatory remarks or upload such videos else strict action would be initiated accordingly.
Police in Azamgarh, Balrampur, Gonda, Basti, Meerut, Agra, and Mathura conducted mock drills, while religious leaders appealed for maintaining peace.
