Dhaka, Sept 29 (V7N) – Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said that strict legal measures have been directed against those spreading rumors and inciting communal unrest on social media during Durga Puja.
 
Speaking to journalists at the Secretariat on Sunday after a meeting of the Core Committee on law and order, he said the government was working to ensure peace in Khagrachhari, where recent unrest has taken place, and that the situation was under control.
 
He further announced that alongside 1 lakh armed forces members, 430 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), 70,000 police personnel, nearly 80,000 volunteers under the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and a large contingent of Ansar members would be deployed to safeguard festivities across the country. A total of 2,758 puja mandaps will be under protection, with 24 base camps established for security coordination.
 
“There is no risk surrounding the Puja. With the increase in the number of mandaps this year, the deployment of law enforcement has also been expanded,” Chowdhury said. He added that media must play its part by countering false propaganda being spread online, particularly by anti-state elements.
 
At the same briefing, the Director General of Ansar and VDP, Major General Abdul Motaleb Sajjad Mahmud, said two lakh Ansar personnel had been deployed across the country to guard mandaps. He also revealed that, for the first time, the activities of six million Ansar-VDP members would be digitally monitored to prevent irregularities, with vehicles brought under GPS tracking.
 
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Mohammad Sajjat Ali identified 89 mandaps in the capital as highly sensitive. During his visit to Dhakeshwari National Temple, he said security measures were in place at all 254 mandaps in Dhaka.
 
“No one will get the chance to create trouble. Anyone attempting mischief will face legal action,” he warned.
 
The DMP Commissioner confirmed that round-the-clock police presence had been ensured in consultation with the Puja Mandap Celebration Council. Between 11 and 50 law enforcement personnel, including both police and Ansar, have been deployed at each mandap. Surveillance cameras, archways at key entrances, and special security arrangements for the Bijoya Dashami immersion procession have also been introduced.
 
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