iffi delegates under tight security

In a bid to ensure the safety of foreign delegates and participants of the 13th International Film Festival of Kerala (iffi) which commenced on Friday in Thiruvananthapuram, the police have tightened all security measures in the city. City Police Commissioner Ravada Azad Chandrasekhar said that the police have erected door frame fitted metal detectors at four of the seven venues. Policemen equipped with hand-held metal detectors will check film viewers entering the other three venues. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad are also checking the festival venues. The Commissioner said the police were keeping a tab on gangsters and chain-snatchers recently released from prison. Policemen will also cover restaurants frequented by delegates.

Surveillance cameras (controllable from the City Police Control Room), patrol vans equipped with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system and Terrestrial Trunked Radio Network (TETRA) have been installed at five points in the city. The video feed from the cameras will be projected real time on display screens and stored digitally for future reference.

The GPS system enables Control Room officials know the location of its patrol vehicles on a digital map of the city. iffi delegates can contact Crime Stopper Number 1090 for police aid. The Control Room can handle 32 calls simultaneously.

The newly-installed automated dial 100 system will display the address and subscriber details of the distress caller on a computer screen the moment he or she connects to the Control Room from a landline. The police will thus be able to direct any of its 16 new mobile patrol vans equipped with GPS and TETRA to the spot promptly, the Commissioner added.