Lucknow police defused potential buildup through statewide outreach, coordination

Pathikrit.Chakraborty

Lucknow: Acting on intelligence inputs suggesting that nearly 10,000 students, job aspirants and members of educational organisations could converge on Lucknow for a large-scale protest at Eco Garden, city police — in coordination with district units across Uttar Pradesh— mounted an extensive pre-emptive exercise that helped avert mass mobilisation.At the centre of the operation was DGP Rajeev Krishna, who monitored developments throughout the day from police headquarters, receiving live updates from Lucknow Police and district units.A dedicated control room functioned under the supervision of ADG (law and order) Amitabh Yash and IG (law and order) LR Kumar, coordinating real-time intelligence inputs and responses with district police chiefs.Sources said intelligence agencies had flagged the possibility of up to 10,000 students and coaching aspirants travelling from multiple districts to participate in the agitation.In response, police headquarters established direct communication channels with officials in nearly 20 districts identified as potential mobilisation hubs, including Gautam Budh Nagar, Bareilly, Varanasi, Agra, Ghaziabad, Firozabad, Mathura, Sultanpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Chandauli and Ghazipur.Senior officers said district police units were instructed to engage with stakeholders in the education sector and maintain continuous dialogue with coaching operators, student groups and aspirants.

As part of the outreach, police contacted around 200 individuals linked to the coaching and competitive examination ecosystem, including institute owners, administrators, coordinators and representatives of student organisations. Meetings were held in several districts, where officials discussed concerns raised by aspirants and organisers.Police maintained that while peaceful democratic expression would be facilitated, organisers were urged to avoid actions that could disrupt public order in the state capital.The strategy was replicated across multiple districts, where local police received memorandums from coaching associations and student groups.Simultaneously, Lucknow Police held separate meetings with coaching institute owners and education sector representatives in the city to address concerns and keep communication channels open.Officials said the objective was to prevent escalation through dialogue while ensuring that students’ grievances were formally communicated to the government.On the ground, nearly 1,500 police personnel were deployed at Eco Garden, supported by four companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and two companies of the Rapid Action Force (RAF). Additional reserve forces, quick response teams and intelligence units were kept on standby.