A 1,500-strong police force to be deployed for crowd management during New Year

A police force of an estimated 1,000 personnel from law and order and 500 personnel from traffic units will be deployed for crowd management during the tourist rush leading to the New Year celebrations on December 31, Home Minister A. Namassivayam said on Friday (December 26, 2025). Addressing presspersons after a review meeting with the police top brass including Shalini Singh, Director General of Police Ajit Kumar Singla, IG and R. Sathiyasundaram DIGP, Mr. Namassivayam said security measures were also in place for the visit of Vice President CP Radhakrishnan on Monday. The Puducherry police force, which has been succesfully managing largely incident-free New Year eve celebrations, has pressed in additional resources this year, Mr. Namassivayam said. He sought the cooperation of inbound tourists with the measures put in place by the police to deal with the rush leading to New Year celebrations. One of the measures to avoid congestion is to block inbound vehicles at the main entry points to the city and operate 30 shuttle bus services to transport visitors. Special parking spaces have also been identified at about 8 locations. The entire White Town precincts, with multiple avenues leading to the Promenade Beach, will be a pedestrian-only zone. This year, permission has been sought for only a few entertainment events for the New Year. Accordingly, security will be provided in those areas, the Minister said. Replying to a question, Mr. Namassivayam denied that there was any security breach during the recent visit of Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to Puducherry. The Minister had chosen to walk along with the people, he said. On the ongoing investigations into the fake drug manufacturing scam, he said more than 16 persons had been arrested so far by the CB-CID and the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Further investigations are in progress. As the Lt Governor has recommended handing over the case to the CBI and NIA, the SIT was ready to hand over the inquiry report whenever sought, Mr. Namassivayam said. Referring to the latest monthly review meeting, the Minister said the Puducherry police force had recorded the country’s highest compliance rates with the mandated timelines in the new criminal laws with an 82% and 89% rate of completion of filing chargesheets for lesser and graver offences respectively. Published - December 27, 2025 12:29 am IST

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