A 450-camera surveillance grid, upgraded anti-drone systems, and more than 3,000 security personnel are keeping a 24x7 vigil over Red Fort on Friday, a day before hundreds of VIPs, including President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and foreign dignitaries, reach the historic site for the 80th Independence Day celebrations.
The security apparatus has been strengthened to detect threats both on the ground and in the air, with the Delhi police also having screened nearly 20,000 people living nearby over the past 20 days.
The surveillance grid near Red Fort includes an 80x zoom camera that can help identify people and objects from as far as 3.5 km, including areas beyond the core security perimeter, DCP (Central) Rohit Rajbir Singh told The Hindu. “We made some improvements over last year. We are focusing on anti-drone measures, and our drone-marking ability has also been improved,” he added.
DCP (Traffic), Central Range, Nishant Gupta said parking locations have been updated on mapping platforms to help visitors reach their designated slots with ease.
Road closures
Several roads around the Red Fort, including Netaji Subhash Marg, Lothian Road, Nishadraj Marg, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, Esplanade Road, Qila Ghat Road and Ring Road, will remain closed to the public from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, security agencies were on their toes with bomb threat e-mails being reported from six spots, including several sensitive locations such as the Delhi High Court and the IGI Airport, on Thursday.
An official said a team from the New Delhi police station, along with a bomb disposal squad, reached the court as soon as they received information about the e-mail threatening to blow up the premises at 2.11 p.m. A thorough search was conducted, and the e-mail was later declared a hoax. A similar exercise was also carried out at the remaining locations — Jamnagar House, Jhandewalan Building, the MB Road Saket office, and the SDM office in Delhi Cantonment. A case has been registered and further probe is under way.
Published - August 15, 2026 01:04 am IST