Security beefed up at Sai Baba temple at Shirdi

Shirdi, Maharashtra, Jan 23 (UNI) Security has been stepped up at the Sai Baba temple here in view of the threats issued to it by terrorist outfits.

Tens of thousands of devotees throng the temple daily.

Shri Sai Baba Trust Management Committee Chairman Jayant Sasane told visiting journalists that armed security personnel have been deployed at various locations on the temple premises, including the main shrine, water tanks, Prasadgraha and the guest house. It has also been forbidden to take any kind of explosive and inflammable material on the premises, he added.

During the Chief Ministers' conference in New Delhi recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had also expressed apprehensions about terror attacks at important establishments and installations in the state.

Security has been heightened at other institutions also in the state, including Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and RSS headquarters at Nagpur, airports and railway stations.

Mr Sasane said security personnel at the temple have been trained by the police department of the state. Besides, metal detectors and closed-circuit television cameras have also been set up to keep an eye on the activities of anti-social elements.

He said the temple premises has also been encircled by a metal grill and a bullet-proof glass erected near the south area of the temple.

No devotee entering the temple premises would be allowed to carry a mobile phone and to ensure that a mobile jammer mechanism has also been put in place, he said, adding that a special squad for the security has been also been raised which would be keeping watch on the people round the clock and in case of suspicion, a person could be interrogated with the help of the local police.

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