RAF to be deployed in 20 hyper-sensitive dists for Holika dahan

Lucknow: To ensure a peaceful Holika dahan, Uttar Pradesh Police has geared up with planing and deployment of forces at certain places.
AGD, law and order, Prashant Kumar said that as many as 20 districts have been identified as hyper-sensitive, where Rapid Action Force (RAF) will be deployed from this week.
“The move is to ensure that Holika dahan is done peacefully.There are 1.4 lakh spots across the state for the ceremony on March 27. Last year, 19 minor incidents during Holika dahan were reported,” said the officer.
The officer added that since 2016, there has been considerable decrease in such incidents though.
“As many as 97 incidents were reported in 2016,” said the officer, adding that over the past few years, measures have been taken to avert incidents pertaining to the festival.
“These include monitoring by drones, deployment of RAF, and dividing districts into categories of hyper-sensitive and sensitive,” said the ADG.
Districts in the hyper-sensitive category are: Agra, Aligarh, Prayagraj, Ambedkarnagar, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Balrampur, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Ayodhya, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kanpur Nagar, Lucknow, Mau, Meerut, Moradabad, Shravasti, Varanasi, and Sambhal.
In these districts, companies of PAC have been deployed along with local forces and fire department.
“Police chiefs of all these districts have been asked to maintain vigilance, while all those accused in incidents previously should be under watch or served notices,” said the ADG.
He also said that pending investigation in any case must be prioritised by the police chief and probe must be completed.
He cited how it is challenging to manage processions in certain districts like in Shahjahanpur where cops have been asked to deploy adequate forces. In Mohollah Masitganj locality, on the day of Holi, a procession is taken out where a man is made to sit on a bullock cart and sprinkled with colours, and also garlanded with shoes. Another such challenging procession is taken out in Asmauli area of Sambhal.