Jaipur: Ahead of the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case, to be declared at 10:30 am today, the Uttar Pradesh administration has beefed up security in Ayodhya and 31 other districts of the state.
Multi-layered security arrangements have been put in place in Ayodhya, along with the deployment of 60 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and paramilitary forces. Drones and CCTV cameras are also in place to monitor the situation.
“Sixty companies of the PAC and paramilitary forces have been deployed. As many as 10 drone cameras and CCTVs at 30 crossings have been installed,” said additional director general (prosecution) Ashutosh Pandey.
Pandey also said that barricading had been strengthened around Ayodhya.
Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the issue, Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), prohibiting gathering of five or more persons, has been imposed across Uttar Pradesh while temporary jails are also created in every district. Internet services have been suspended in some areas in order to maintain law and order situation.
As per a senior official, the Union home ministry has deployed about 4,000 central paramilitary personnel in Uttar Pradesh.
Authorities have said that social media posts will be monitored to curb the spreading of fake and inflammatory content.
“Special vigil is being maintained on more than 670 people on social media and if the situation worsens, internet services will be shut down to check spread of rumours,” the official said.
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The Adityanath government in UP has closed all educational institutions in the state from Saturday to Monday, as a precautionary measure.
Following suit, the governments in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan have also declared a holiday for all educational institutes in their states in view of the verdict.
On Friday, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi held an unprecedented meeting with UP chief secretary Rajendra Kumar Tiwari and director general of police Om Prakash Singh who informed him about the security arrangements in place ahead of the verdict to maintain law and order in the state.