Bangladesh Ensures High Security for Durga Puja Amid Concerns

Police in Bangladesh will be on the highest alert during Durga Puja to ensure peaceful celebrations. Measures include police in uniform and plain clothes, SWAT teams, and bomb disposal units. The plan involves pre-puja, during puja, and post-puja phases. Leaders of the Hindu community are urged to cooperate.

Police in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, will be placed on high alert at every puja mandap to ensure peaceful celebrations of Durga Puja, a top police official confirmed on Wednesday, amid concerns of potential unrest during the festival.

Durga Puja, scheduled from October 9 to 13, will see unprecedented security, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Mainul Hassan. ''We have already started taking measures to ensure the security of the puja mandaps,'' he explained in a statement to state-run BSS news agency.

Hassan announced that security will be divided into three phases—pre-puja, during puja, and during the immersion of the goddess Durga. The plan includes deploying both uniformed and plain-clothes officers, as well as SWAT teams, quick response units, and bomb disposal units to ensure foolproof security. He emphasized the importance of community cooperation, with Hindu leaders asked to effectively manage their CCTV systems and deploy volunteers to work alongside police during the festivities.

(With inputs from agencies.)