Plea for 30 commandos for Siddhivinayak

Following the November 26 audacious strikes in Mumbai, Siddhivinayak Temple Trust has asked the Maharashtra government to provide 30 commandos to beef up security of the temple, which is visited by the thousands daily.

"We have asked for 30 commandos who are well equipped to tackle any possible terrorist attack," the President of the Trust, Subash Mayekar, told PTI. "Every day at least 25,000 devotees come to the temple and on Tuesdays upto two lakh devotees and therefore, we want the security to be beefed up for the safety of the devotees," he said.

Siddhivinyak temple, located in Prabhadevi in Central Mumbai, is currently guarded by five police personnel with AK-47 but that is not enough, he said. Although there was no immediate threat perception,"we want to take precautions," he said adding, "We hope the government will accept our request."