Cops to film protesters to ensure incident-free bandh

The police will capture videos of agitators at Town Hall and Mysore Bank Circle, two of Bengaluru’s traditional venues for protests, as the city gears up for Monday’s nationwide shutdown called by the Opposition over rising fuel prices.

Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar said the plan was to contain violence, adding that at least 15,000 police personnel will be out on the streets, along with 30 platoons each of the Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP) and the City Armed Reserves (CAR). Other plans include putting up barricades in sensitive localities to check untoward incidents, activating intelligence cells to monitor suspicious elements, and conducting random checks of people and vehicles, among others, Kumar told DH.

At least 270 Hoysala patrol cars and hundreds of Cheetah motorbikes would patrol the streets. Firefighters, home guards, civil defence personnel, Quick Response Teams and Anti-Sabotage Squads will be on standby.

Deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) have been ordered to monitor the situation in their respective division and report the developments to the police command centre, Kumar added.

Additional Commissioner of Police (East) Seemanth Kumar Singh said KSRP and CAR personnel would man metro stations if the services remained open. “We haven’t taken anyone into preventive custody. We have to watch protesters on both sides of the spectrum. As per our ground and intelligence reports, the shutdown will be incident-free,” Singh added.