With the Supreme Court set to pronounce its judgement on the politically sensitive Ayodhya land dispute case, security has been increased for the five judges including Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Chief Justice-designate Justice SA Bobde, Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice SA Nazeer will pronounce the verdict at 10:30 am today.
The bench had reserved the judgement on October 16, after a 40-day marathon hearing on the matter, which began on August 6.
According to a report in NDTV, CJI Ranjan Gogoi’s security has been upgraded to Z category.
Security has been beefed up in Uttar Pradesh and other states. Section 144 (gathering of more than four people banned) has been imposed in the whole of UP.
Ayodhya SSP Ashish Tiwari said: “We have activated all the barriers on all our inter-district borders, two hundred police mobiles (teams) have been activated in Ayodhya and movement of forces have been started for deploying at different places in Ayodhya. More forces have been deployed at the areas having mixed populations of both communities.”
All the roads leading to the disputed Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi disputed site have been sealed and the area covered with extra forces.
Meanwhile, the state government has closed all schools, colleges, educational institutions and training centres from November 9 to 11 in view of the verdict.
Two helicopters have been kept on standby in Lucknow and Ayodhya to tackle any possible emergency. Security arrangements in Delhi have also been tightened.
Also, schools in other states including Karnataka, Jammu, Madhya Pradesh will remain closed today as a precautionary measure.
The Centre has asked all states to remain alert ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute and ensure security in sensitive areas.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has also dispatched around 4,000 paramilitary personnel for security deployment in Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Ayodhya.
A general advisory has been sent to all states and Union territories asking them to deploy adequate security personnel in all sensitive places and ensure that no untoward incident takes place anywhere in the country.