Babri Masjid demolition verdict: Heavy security arrangements in place in UP

Uttar Pradesh police have put 1.5 lakh boots on the ground and activated its social media monitoring cells in at least 15 highly sensitive districts as part of heavy security arrangements in the run-up to the special CBI court verdict in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case on Wednesday.

The criminal case has BJP veterans L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi among the accused, and will be getting its final verdict after 28 years of investigation by the CBI. While the Centre has issued an advisory asking all states to maintain high vigil, the state intelligence units have shot off detailed advisories warning against possible attempts by miscreants and anti-national elements to stir trouble. The zonal and sector schemes have been put in place which mandate the magistrate and deputy superintendent of police to move in affected areas even as additional companies of the UP Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed in sensitive districts.

Prashant Kumar, additional director general of police in charge of law and order, told THE WEEK that around 60-70 companies of PAC have been deployed in addition to the state police force.

“In all, we have around 1,50,000 policemen on ground. In Ayodhya itself, we have 20 companies (nearly 2,000 policemen) of CRPF and others deployed as part of security arrangements,” he said.

As much as it is important to maintain law and order in the communally sensitive state, Kumar said, the police is keeping a close watch on social media, too.

Keeping this in mind, every sensitive district which has a social media cell, has been asked to constantly monitor the social media content around the CBI court judgment tomorrow to guard against fake news and communally sensitive content being peddled by mischief mongers.

“Around 15 districts in all major cities which have a mixed population are under high surveillance. The social media cells will be monitoring the online activities for communally sensitive content,” said Kumar.

The sensitive districts include Lucknow, Kanpur, Moradabad, Aligarh, Gonda, Rampur, Ghaziabad, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Agra, Bareilly among others.

In 2019, when the final Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit came, though no untoward incident took place in the country, around 90 faced arrests and more than 8,000 social media posts faced action on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

The security establishment was not prepared to take any chances last year and neither is it taking any chances this time, said a senior security official in the capital.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who had stepped in last time to talk to religious heads and spiritual leaders over the Ayodhya issue to maintain peace and order, is once again monitoring the security situation and will be keeping a hawk’s eye on the developments in the coming days.