'Have input that people from outside will enter to create disturbances'

Kolkata: With intelligence input that "some people from outside" might attempt to create trouble during the festival season, the police are taking stringent measures to check spreading of rumours that is considered to be the root cause of major troubles.

Surajit Kar Purakayastha, Director General of Police, said at Nabanna on Friday: "We have input that some people from outside would enter to create disturbances. We are keeping a close watch to avoid any sort of untoward incident and we will take stringent actions against such people."

Stressing on the need to check spreading of rumours, Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner of Kolkata Police, said: "There are a small section of people who spread rumours through social media. We are taking stringent measures against such attempts."

Home Secretary Atri Bhattacharya too urged not to forward unverified messages as fake news would lead to communal tension. "Please verify any news that you receive and the easiest way is to contact the officers from the local police stations," he said.

Purakayastha further stated that one may also contact in the helpline numbers 100, 1073, 1093, etc. The helpline numbers are also available in websites of different state government departments. The control room of the police in both district and state level will also operate round-the-clock.

He further said that all arrangements are in place and police will be on duty for the Pujas from Chaturthi to manage crowd and maintain traffic.

The police will also use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to keep a close watch at the places where there are gatherings.

He further said that a total of 30,000 barowari Pujas and equal number of household Pujas take place in the state. There was a co-ordination meeting between Puja organisers and police in police stations at district and state levels.

He said that many people from different parts of the state and even from abroad visit the city during the Puja.

In the co-ordination meetings, Puja organisers had discussions with the police and other representatives of the state government where they shared their views to ensure a trouble-free Durga Puja.