India is set to face Pakistan in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 on October 14. A senior official has reportedly said that more than 11,000 personnel of various agencies including Gujarat Police, NSG, RAF, and home guards among others will be deployed in Ahmedabad and also at Narendra Modi Stadium.
These security arrangements will be made during the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket match on October 14. The high-level security measures have been arranged due to threats, the senior official said.
There has been no reported case of communal violence during cricket matches that has been played in the city in the past 20 years. However, Ahmedabad Commissioner of Police G S Malik has said that the security forces will be deployed in several communally sensitive areas as a precautionary measure.
Police’s action plan was reviewed to ensure that the high-profile sport event passes off with ease and peace. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel met the Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi, state DGP Vikas Sahay, G S Malik and other senior police officers in Gandhinagar for the review.
Malik addressed a press conference in which he said that the chief minister had reviewed the security preparations. Directions have been given to the police to take all necessary steps to ensure that no untoward incident takes place during the match.
There are more than 1 lakh spectators that will be moving at the stadium and there has been a recent threat issued in light of which elaborate security arrangements have been made, Malik elaborated.
More than 7,000 police personnel and nearly 4,000 home guards will be deployed to secure the stadium in order to maintain law and order in communally sensitive areas of the city during the match. Along with these personnel, three ‘hit teams’ and one anti-drone team of the NSG will be deployed. Nine teams of the bomb detection and disposal squad will also be in place.
On the match day, the personnel will be guided and supervised by four senior IPS officers of the ranks of the inspector general and the deputy inspector general along with 21 officers holding the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police.
In addition to 13 state reserve police (SRP) companies, three Rapid Action Force (RAF) units will be deployed for city security. RAF will monitor sensitive areas. An evacuation plan is in place for stampede emergencies, and security rehearsals are ongoing at the stadium.
To address potential chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will be stationed in the city.
Following a threat email received by Mumbai Police, where an unidentified sender threatened harm to the prime minister and the stadium’s destruction, along with demands for money and a gangster’s release, Malik assured that these threats were assessed and determined to originate from a foreign location.
Malik assured the city is prepared to handle any situation keeping in mind that over a hundred thousand spectators are expected and the match is a sensitive matter.
Last month, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the head of the banned outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), was charged by Gujarat Police for threatening to turn the Cricket World Cup at Narendra Modi stadium into a “World Terror Cup.”