Tight security for Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup

Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) Rajendra Prasad Sharma on Monday said tight security arrangements have been made for the smooth and successful conduct of the Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup 2018.

The world cup will begin from Wednesday while the inaugural ceremony will be held on Tuesday.

Sharma said this is one of the toughest challenges for the Odisha Police as along with the Hockey World Cup, a few other important events are on in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

He said security has been tightened at the city airport and hotels where the players and delegates are accommodated.

Besides, frequent sanitizing drills are being performed at the Kalinga Stadium to detect the presence of explosives, he added.

The opening ceremony of the hockey tournament will take place Tuesday. Many celebrities are coming for the ceremony. Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit and music director A.R. Rahman have already landed in Bhubaneswar for the inaugural ceremony. Shah Rukh Khan will also participate in the opening event.

"There are celebrities for the opening ceremony which invites enthusiasm of the crowd throwing a challenge for the security forces. The main objective would be to ensure that the entire event passes off peacefully and incident-free," said the DGP.

Meanwhile, the legends of the 1975 World Cup-winning hockey team also arrived in the state capital ahead of the opening ceremony.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday met the captains of all 16 teams of the tournament and participated with them in a photo shoot at the Mukteshwar Temple here.

IANS

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