Agraj Pratap Singh
New Delhi, Jan 22 (UNI) The police and central agencies have stepped up arrangements for the upcoming Republic Day celebrations in the national capital to ensure water-tight security for the mega national event, adopting advanced technology including AI-powered solutions, like facial recognition glasses, and thousands of CCTV cameras armed with video analytics.
The Delhi Police is on its toes, leaving no loose-ends to ensure fool-proof security, especially in the wake of the November 10, 2025 terror blast near the Red Fort, that shook the nation.
The arrangement put in place by the police "are future looking, and in keeping with the changing scenarios of crime and evolving terror modules", officials said.
"We are using all the advancements in technology which are available to make the security for the Republic Day water-tight," they said.
The Delhi Police, in a first has involved AI- powered smart solutions in the form of 'smart glasses' which are going to serve as a moving facial recognition system (FRS) that will help police identify threats like anti- social and criminal elements, in a better and swift manner to avert any untoward incident during the national celebrations.
These glasses are enabled with video analytics capable of scanning suspicious people in crowds and zeroing in on matching faces available with the criminal databases in very little time, alerting the officers in real-time.
Apart from these glasses, there are going to be police vehicles equipped with special cameras armed with video analytics and facial recognition systems to flag security threats.
Notably, earlier, despite having CCTV surveillance, when the technology was not advanced, the scanning was done later to identify suspects post an incident or a suspicious activity, but now the present technology can flag the suspects in real time, alerting the officials monitoring the system.
"Real time use of technology will help in taking pro-active and timely steps. This was necessary as we already have a data on terror modules and their possible cadre members with us, which will help track such elements faster," said officials.
According to a senior police official, over three thousand CCTV cameras will be in place around the New Delhi district and the Republic Day venue, to monitor crowd movement. Many of the CCTVs will also be equipped with FRS, while more than 30 control rooms will be in place from where the
officers will monitor everything.
Earlier, the number of control rooms and screens used to be fewer, as compared to this time, sources said. These measures come in light of intelligence inputs received.
They said that ahead of the R- Day celebrations, the intelligence agencies have also issued a critical alert, and have warned that terror outfits may attempt to target the national capital, and also other cities in the country.
Intelligence sources have flagged the likelihood of gangsters operating as 'foot soldiers' for radical foreign handlers to advance their designs and plots to affect the country's internal security.
The police have prepared the security plans and arrangements keeping in mind a lot of aspects, working on intelligence inputs from multiple agencies on terror elements and outfits, and have deployed anti-terror strategies accordingly.
Recently, the Delhi Police chief had chaired a special coordination meeting with officers from multiple law enforcement and central intelligence agencies in the national capital for the R- Day preparations.
Apart from deployment of large number of force personnel, including special units, like commandoes and those in civil clothes, the security agency has stressed upon intensive monitoring of the cyber space, and action on cyber criminals, narcotics and criminal gangs operating in the national capital and the NCR areas, particularly targeting those sitting in foreign lands and using modern technology to execute criminal activities.
According to a senior police official, over ten thousand personnel will be deployed in the New Delhi District as part of the Republic Day security arrangements, and they have been briefed multiple times, and also attended training sessions for the deployment and special arrangements.
Meanwhile, in the coordination meeting that was held on January 15, senior police officers from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, and Chandigarh had shared their views, also sharing important inputs on preparations as well as intelligence.
Apart from using new high tech devices, the police will also be following their standard operating procedures, and there will "be no loose ends" left to make sure that the national celebrations go smoothly.
There is round the clock monitoring underway at sensitive locations and also the vital installations, in view of the Republic Day, while police have also urged citizens to immediately flag and inform them upon noticing any suspicious activity or person who may be a threat.
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