DHAKA, BANGLADESH, September 28, 2005: Elite-force RAB will deploy its total strength alongside other law-enforcers to provide a security blanket for the upcoming Durga Puja, the largest festival of the Hindu community, across the country. Some 8,000 members of the Rapid Action Battalion will be put on guard in some 22,000 Puja Mandaps (prayer podiums) and surrounding areas across the country to stave off any kind of untoward incident. The number of puja altars was 19,400 last year. An inter-ministerial meeting on law and order for Durga Puja at the Home Ministry on Wednesday drew up the special security plan, apparently in view of concerns still hanging over since the recent serial bombings across the country.
State Minister Babar said that control rooms in divisional, district and upazila headquarters would be set up to monitor the overall situation. “Law-enforcers would be deployed in all connecting roads to Puja Mandaps to ensure safety,” he said. Leaders of Hindu community wanted uninterrupted supply of water and electricity during the festival.