Bengaluru: In the wake of the blast on Church Street Sunday night, Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah declared that the state government has decided to impose restrictions on New Year celebrations on MG Road and Brigade Road.
“Although, the situation is under control, we do not want to take any chances. Therefore, the state government is not imposing any ban on revelry but will impose certain restrictions on bar timings by an hour which will have to close at 1 am instead of 2 am on New Year eve.”
He added that the state police had enhanced security in the Central Business District area of Bengaluru and other sensitive areas in view of New Year eve celebrations.
Asked about the link between the blast and the arrest of suspected ISIS twitter handler Mehdi Biswas, police commissioner, M.N. Reddi said, "Mehdi is an ISIS propagandist.
ISIS is in foreign land and there is no information on its roots in our country or state, but having said that there is no rule that they have to commit such acts with allegiance to one group, they might have acted individually, we are looking at all angles.”
Mr Reddi said that the police had assessed the situation and have taken all necessary security measures to observe a peaceful new year celebration.
“However, we are thinking of restricting the number of people entering the Brigade Road on December 31 night. We will work out a plan and give concrete details on the same by Tuesday.”
DCP (Central) Sandeep Patil said, “We are deploying one constable for every 100 metres on M G Road, Brigade Road, High Grounds and Vidhana Soudha till the new year celebrations are over. Besides, we are putting 10 watch towers on MG Road, Brigade Road and surrounding areas.”
