Mysuru: The Jumboo Savari procession from Mysore Palace to Bannimantap last evening was an orderly spectacle, unmarred by intrusions from the roadside or the usual crowding of self-proclaimed ‘officials’ and ‘connected people.’ This discipline was credited to two special teams specially deployed from Bengaluru and Mangaluru.
The first was the Close Proximity Security Team (CPST), popularly nicknamed the ‘Kabaddi Team’ in Police parlance.
Historically in existence since British rule, this unit was later rechristened CPST.
Dressed in safari suits, the team’s task was to swiftly swoop in, block entry points and prevent nuisance mongers from disrupting order.
The 22-member CPST, deployed at the instructions of Karnataka DG&IGP Dr. M.A. Saleem, ensured that no one intruded onto the route to disturb elephants, cultural troupes or performing teams. Barricades were fortified along the 5-km stretch and with the team’s hawk-eyed vigilance, the confusion of previous years — where unauthorised persons often claimed ‘top influence’ to enter — was absent.
The second deployment was a 70-member Special Action Force (SAF) from Mangaluru. This team maintained discipline from the side galleries to the centre of the route, ensuring the procession remained incident-free. With both teams working in discrete but decisive coordination, Jumboo Savari unfolded smoothly before lakhs of spectators, free from disruptions that had marred spectacle in earlier years.
