Lucknow. The Yogi Adityanath government has decided to deploy Rapid Action Force (RAF) in at least 20 districts of Uttar Pradesh that have been identified as ‘hypersensitive’ in view of the upcoming Holi festival. The districts of susceptible category include Agra, Aligarh, Prayagraj, Ambedkaranagar, Azamgarh, Bahraich, Balrampur, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Ayodhya, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Kanpur Nagar, Lucknow, Mau, Meerut, Moradabad, Shravasti, Varanasi and Sambhal.
ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said, “Steps are being taken to ensure that Holi is celebrated in a peaceful manner. There are 1.4 lakh places across the state for ‘Holika Dahan’ on the eve of the festival. Last The year, 19 minor incidents were recorded during this period. ”
The official said that such incidents have reduced significantly since 2016.
He said that measures have been taken to prevent incidents related to the festival. These include monitoring by drones, deployment of the RAF and dividing the districts into the category of susceptible and sensitive, the ADG said. In these districts, PAC companies along with local forces and fire departments have been deployed.
The ADG said, the police chiefs of all these districts have been asked to maintain vigilance and those who have been accused in previous incidents will be monitored. District police chiefs have been asked to be vigilant about various processions which are a part of Holi celebrations.
For example, at Mastiganj in Shahjahanpur, on the day of Holi, a procession is taken out where a man is seated on a bullock cart wearing a garland of shoes and painted on it.
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