It is learnt that 320 police personnel of different ranks will be deployed for traffic arrangements during the inaugural function of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao. Obviously police personnel will also be deployed during the closing ceremony. On other festival days 191 police personnel will reportedly be deployed. Several VIPs, delegates and film personalities from India and across the world will be attending the mega international event. Hence providing security to them will be a major issue.
Obviously more police personnel will be required for security purposes. It is a common occurrence that when there is a mega event and police personnel are deployed at the venue, there is a rise in the number of burglaries and house breaking incidents elsewhere in the State. The anti-social elements and thieves could become more active taking advantage of the fact that much of the police force is deployed at the venue in order to carry out various duties. The common man's homes in the cities and villages could be the target for these thieves. It seems prudent not to scale down the security around residential places across the state during such international events. The police need to carry out night patrolling as is normally done. Citizens should not be victims of thefts and house-breaks whenever an international event is on.
