Tight security for Pahela Baishakh

The traditional celebration of Pahela Baishakh, the first day in Bangla calendar, will be heavily policed. Around 12,000 officials will be on patrol in and outside the capital to ensure a trouble-free carnival on Wednesday.
Apart from the regular police forces, Rab will deploy a total of 2,220 forces in the capital and 3,000 elsewhere in the country while DMP will deploy over 6,500 forces in and around Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan, Dhaka University and Dhanmondi Lake areas.
At a press briefing held at Ramna Park on the Pahela Baishakh security issue, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner AKM Shahidul Hoque yesterday said, “All measures to ensure fool-proof security have been taken."
"Excesses will not be encouraged in the name of security, ” he added.
The DMP commissioner said although they have no information on any terrorist attack on Pahela Baishakh, this is for the first time that an evacuation team and a post-incident management team will be entrusted with tackling any eventuality.
Shahidul Hoque said special weapons and tactics (SWAT), bomb disposal unit, dog squad, CCTV, rooftop police, plainclothes women police teams will be deployed and metal detector archways would be placed at all major celebration venues.
The DMP commissioner said main deployment of forces would start around 4:00am on the day of celebration. Each person will be checked twice to make sure no terrorist act takes place.
Eight gates -- four for entry, four for exit -- will be set up around Ramna Park, which will be cordoned by the Lining Force of DMP.
Nine DMP teams will be on duty to check mugging at the celebration venues. Besides, intelligence surveillance will be in place.
Rab officials said they would set up 47 check posts and 38 CCTVs to monitor the areas.
According to Rab officials, they will also keep vigil over all important places like cinemas, zoos, parks and other establishments.