Cops sound high alert in city after arms haul

Mumbai: In the wake of the recent seizure of ammo including crude bombs from Nalasopara and Pune, the city has been put on high alert ahead of Independence Day on Wednesday. Leaves of all police personnel have been cancelled to ensure that they are on duty in a bid to keep the city safe. The Mumbai police will keep a hawk’s eye on more than 5,000 CCTV cameras in the city.

“We have sounded an alert across Mumbai and all special wings of city police and the special branch will be on duty. Security will be beefed up across the city,” said Manjunath Singe, deputy commissioner and Mumbai police spokesperson.

Scanning of hotels and lodges, and vehicle checks will be carried out from late Tuesday. Crime branch units will scan all hotels and lodges to check on suspicious persons put up anywhere. Hotels and lodges have been ordered to keep a copy of the identity documents of residents. Police presence will be stepped up at vital installations, railway stations, and all such places with high footfall.

The traffic police meanwhile will carry out nakabandi (checks) at important locations across the city. There will be visible police presence in the city and vital installations will be secured by Quick Response Team (QRT) commandos. The entry and exit points of Mumbai will see heavy police presence.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) will also have considerable presence at all major stations and terminals. Stations with heavy footfall will have railway police commandos on patrol. The railway police will also conduct anti-sabotage checks with sniffer dogs and round-the-clock monitoring of CCTV footage.