Tight security for PM's rally at Ramlila Maidan

The Delhi Police on Sunday kept a tight vigil on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Ramlila Maidan, which is a little over a kilometre away from Old Delhi's Daryaganj that was hit by violence on Friday during the protest against the amended Citizenship Act.

Adequate aerial security cover was placed and 20 companies of outside force were deployed. Each company has 70-80 personnel, a senior police officer said.

"Policemen were placed among crowds in plain clothes to keep a tab on miscreants. Police also checked every visitor thoroughly who entered the ground for the rally," the officer said.

People wearing black mufflers or scarves were restricted to enter the rally, he said.

Before the prime minister's arrival, a helicopter made several rounds over the ground and other adjoining areas. The roads leading towards Old Delhi were blocked to avoid any kind of untoward incident.

"All roads towards Daryaganj from Ramlila Ground remained blocked due to security reasons. The shops, in the route taken by PM, were also shut. The rally ended very peacefully," the officer added.

Apart from this, Traffic Police personnel were also placed along the route taken by the prime minister.

Twenty DCP-rank officials were handling the security and 1,000 personnel from local police, anti-drone teams and National Security Guard commandos were also deployed there. The entire area around the venue was sanitised.

A multilevel security arrangement was in place, with CCTV surveillance of all the routes leading to the venue and snipers being positioned atop buildings to ensure security, they said.

The Delhi Gate area on Friday witnessed violence during protest against CAA.

The buses ferrying visitors to the rally ground from various locations of Delhi-NCR caused major traffic congestion on DDU Marg. Normal traffic was resumed by 4 pm, traffic police officer said.