New Delhi, Dec 28: Around 1,600 Delhi Police personnel will keep tight vigil at Ramlila Ground on Saturday where Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal will be sworn in as seventh chief minister of the national capital.
The security wing will secure the stage where Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Kejriwal and six other ministers, only the second time it is being done at a public function.
In 1996, BJP leader Sahib Singh Verma had taken oath at a ceremony in Chhatrasal Stadium.
In order to ensure foolproof security, different units of Delhi Police have been entrusted with separate jobs.
A central control room has been set up at the venue for real-time monitoring and to ensure proper coordination among security personnel. Senior Delhi police officials will be present in the control room to supervise the entire event.
Arrangements related to law and order and crowd management will be the responsibility of the staff of the Central Range while the Traffic Police will make arrangements to regulate vehicular movements.
CCTV cameras have been installed at more than 20 strategic locations and spotters will be deployed during the event at neighbouring high-rise buildings.
Delhi Police commandos and bomb squads will also be deployed along with anti-riot police and vehicles at the venue.
The venue will be sanitized once this evening and again on Saturday morning by metal detectors and sniffer dogs. Other then the armed policemen in uniform, those in plain cloths will also be present among the crowd and around the venue during the event.
"We are expecting a turnout of 30 to 35 thousand for the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. Sufficient security arrangements have been put in place. Every visitor will be frisked properly manually and doorframe metal detectors have been put in place at the entry gates of the venue," said a senior Delhi Police official.
Out of the five entry gates, one of them will be reserved for VIPs while three will be open for public entry. The fourth gate has been kept for contingency, police said.
Kejriwal had on Monday, during his meeting with Delhi LG Najeeb Jung expressed his desire to take oath at Ramlila Maidan, as the venue was associated with the Jan Lokpal movement and he also wanted the people to be part of the event.
Delhi Police had swung into action on Monday itself, even before the date was decided for the ceremony.
Senior Police Officials including Special Commissioner (Law and Order) Deepak Mishra, Joint commissioner (Central range) Sandeep Goel, DCP (central) Alok Verma along with a team of officials had inspected the venue on Monday to determine the kind of security apparatus needed to be put in place for the oath taking ceremony.
The officials then returned and a meeting was held in the Delhi Police headquarters which was headed by Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi and other senior officials where security arrangements for the swearing in ceremony were chalked out.
According to sources, senior officials are constantly reviewing the security arrangements at the venue and the exercise will go on till the very last minute to streamline the entire apparatus.
Kejriwal to pay homage at Rajghat before starting work
Ghaziabad: Soon after taking oath as Delhi chief minister on Saturday, Arvind Kejriwal will visit Rajghat before leaving for his first Cabinet meeting.
The Cabinet meeting is scheduled to take place at 2pm.
"After taking oath as Delhi's CM, I will call a cabinet meeting at 2pm on Saturday," the chief minister designate told reporters here.
Before going to the Delhi secretariat for the meeting, Kejriwal said that he will go to Rajghat to pay homage to the father of the nation.
Kejriwal said that he will also meet the transport department officials tomorrow to discuss the problems being faced by auto rickshaw drivers in Delhi.
Today, leaders of auto union met Kejriwal and put forth their twelve problems to which Kejriwal said he will look into after a meeting with the transport department officials.
Giving details of his schedule for Saturday, Kejriwal said that he will travel by metro from his house in Kaushambi to reach Barakhamba and from there he will reach Ramlila ground in his car for the swearing in ceremony.
He also said that he has spoken to Anna Hazare on Friday.
"I have spoken to Anna and he has said that he will not be able to attend the oath taking ceremony due to his ill health," Kejriwal said.
When reporters asked about his security inside the metro, Kejriwal said that he does not think that if he takes metro, there would be a security problem, adding that he is a common man and would go to venue of swearing-in ceremony as an 'aam aadmi'.
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