Security beefed up for Durga idol immersion, Dussehra in Bihar

Patna: The Bihar government has made elaborate security arrangements, including the deployment of additional forces, the use of drones and the installation of CCTV cameras in sensitive points, to ensure peaceful celebrations of Dussehra in the state on Tuesday.

The security has been beefed up across the state after a five-year-old boy and two women were killed on Monday and several others received injuries in a stampede at a Durga Puja pandal in Gopalganj district.

The nine-day Navratri celebrations would end this evening with the immersion of idols of Goddess Durga and the burning of effigies of the demon king Ravana.

"Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the idol immersion at the identified water bodies and on the routes of processions. Drones would be used to ensure efficient crowd and traffic management and to maintain law and order during the burning of effigies of the Ravana at the historic Gandhi Maidan and immersion procession in the state capital," Patna District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh told PTI.

Besides, quick response teams (QRTs) have also been deployed at critical locations in the state capital, he said.

The state police have deployed more than 20,000 additional forces across the state to maintain law and order during the festivities, another officer said.

"Around 500 additional forces have been deployed around Gandhi Maidan, the main venue in Patna where the effigies of Ravana and others will be burnt in the evening, while 2,500 additional personnel will ensure smooth immersion of idols of the Goddess Durga in the city today. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in view of the massive turnout at Gandhi Maidan," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajeev Mishra said.

During the Dussehra celebrations, Ravana Badh, the burning of effigies of Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbkarna would also be organised by different puja committees across the state.

Notably, 32 people, including 20 women and 10 children, were killed and 26 others injured in a stampede at Gandhi Maidan, shortly after the end of the Dussehra celebrations in 2014.