The force will be used in a relief system though there are still question marks about the nature of the agitation in light of the frequent seizure of arms.[break]
“We hope that the demonstrations will be peaceful, as promised by the organizers,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Ramesh Kharel, chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu. “Enforcements will be modified as per the nature of the event and could even end up becoming full-fledged.”
Besides guarding 18 points from where the Maoists will take out processions to converge at Khulamanch for their grand power-show, personnel of the Nepal Police and APF will set up a heavy presence at restricted areas, important government establishments and other vital installments in the city.
The deployment would be in different forms--picketing, cordoning, striking, reserves and plainclothes intelligence. There would be two to four layers of deployment, each having a combination of Nepal Police and APF.
The restricted areas around Singha Durbar will see first-rate deployment with the Nepal Police in three layers and APF back-up.
The operations will showcase improvements based on incidents that went wrong during past protests by the Maoists, said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Bigyan Raj Sharma, spokesman of the Nepal Police at a press conference. Then DSP Dillip Chaudhary was seriously injured in a brutal attack at New Baneshwor during the Maoist agitation against the president in December.
Sharma said that the operations are designed in two phases--plan ´A” and ´B´. Plan ´A´ will address the situation of peaceful protests and normal tension levels while ´B´ category will be for taking control of serious and untamed situations.
“We have fully authorized field commanders to take necessary action, and, accordingly, there would be no confusion over adopting measures--even opening fire, as stipulated in the Local Governance Act,” he added.
“However, our main duty would be to ensure the safety of peaceful demonstrations, properly maintaining human rights,” Sharma said.
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