New Delhi: Security has been beefed up at schools and colleges in the national capital in the wake of a brutal terror attack in an army-run school at Peshwar in Pakistan in which at least 160 people, mostly children, were killed.
The Delhi Police top brass has asked all district DCPs to take enhanced security measures at schools and colleges under their jurisdiction area. They have been asked to instruct SHOs to meet principals of the education institutes in their area and to chalk out a contingency plan and maintain tight vigil.
“Institutions are being asked to keep their gates shut when they have students inside, deploy guards and allow entry to people only after proper verification. PCR vans will be positioned close to prominent schools and colleges in the city and beat constables will also patrol the area,” said a senior police official.
“We have also made an elaborate plan under which mobile hit teams and SWAT will be deployed at strategic locations who can reach such installations within five minutes in case of any untoward incident.”
In the bloodiest terror attack in Pakistan in years, at least 160 people, mostly children, were today killed by heavily-armed Taliban suicide bombers who stormed an army-run school here and took several hostages, a throwback to the 2004 Beslan school siege by Chechen rebels.
Vigil had already been heightened in the national capital yesterday especially at public places like malls, in the wake of the hostage crisis in Australia’s Sydney.
According to a senior police officials, security was stepped up in popular malls and areas which have clusters of cafes and restaurants yesterday as it was a popular cafe which was targeted in Sydney.
“All the necessary steps have been taken to ensure security in Delhi,” said Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi.
Delhi Police has already been keeping a heightened vigil after a red alert was sounded in the city on December 5 over intelligence inputs of a possible terror strike.
The force is on its toes these days ahead of Christmas and New Year which would be followed by the visit of US President Barack Obama to India. The presence of Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with a host of dignitaries at the Republic Day parade is going to be a never-before high-stakes event for security agencies.