UP Govt Deploys Anti-Terrorist Squad on Kanwar Yatra Routes

Lucknow: For the first time the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) has been deployed along Kanwar Yatra routes in Uttar Pradesh by the Yogi Adityanath government.

This has been done specifically in the Meerut and Muzaffarnagar districts. The UP government claims that there is a terrorist threat to the Kanwar Yatra.

This move of the UP government coincides with the Supreme Court stay order on a state government order to food vendors along the Kanwar Yatra route to display the owners’ and employees’ names on boards.

Drones are also being used for security monitoring on the Kanwar Yatra routes.

UP Director-general of police Prashant Kumar said, “There is a constant fear of terror attacks on any such religious journey. The Kanwar Yatra is very sensitive and so the ATS is there. We will be able to deal with any unusual situation if the commandos are there.”

The devotees collect Ganga water from one place and offer it at a Shiv temple at some other place of their choice in the month of Shravan during Kanwar Yatra.