Police inside Golden Temple too

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">CHANDIGARH: Notwithstanding the SGPC''s reservations, the security arrangements inside the Golden Temple would be taken care of not just by "sevadars" but by the police. More than 500 policemen led by a DIG would maintain vigil in rotation inside the Harmandir Sahib complex and they would all be deployed in plainclothes.<br /><br />IG, Jalandhar range, S K Sharma, who is supervising security arrangements in Amritsar on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of installation of Guru Granth Sahib, told <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Times News Network</span> on Sunday that the contentious issue of deploying police personnel inside the Temple complex was resolved after deliberations with the SGPC authorities.<br /><br />The differences between the SGPC and the police had cropped up after the SGPC had objected to policemen being positioned inside the Temple for security duties.The SGPC maintained that the security within the Temple be left to "sevadars" as it would be "sacrilegious" to have policemen performing the task.<br /><br />Given the sensitivity of the proposed visit of the President and the Prime Minister to the Golden Temple, the IG said that the security duties could not but be handed over to trained police personnel. Sharma said even the SPG personnel in plainclothes might escort the VVIPs during their visit to the Temple.<br /><br />More than 9,000 policemen would be maintaining vigil in the holy city during the next three days when an estimated crowd of 25 lakh devotees would be thronging to participate in the historic celebrations. Besides more than 50 school and college buildings, the administration has pitched in tents at 33 places in the city to accomodate visiting devotees. Meanwhile, DGP A A Sidiqqui reviewed security arrangements here and supervised rehearsals conducted by the police.</div> </div>