Bengaluru New Year’s Eve restrictions: Police ban whistle, full face mask for revellers

Bengaluru Police Commissioner advises against whistles and masks for New Year celebrations due to security concerns.

Hours before New Year celebrations kick off in Bengaluru, City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda advised revellers to refrain from using whistle and full face-mask, citing law and order concerns.

“The decision was taken following a few stray incidents from the previous year when the overuse of whistles caused chaos, drowning out public announcements and emergency warnings. The full-face masks were flagged as a security risk, with some people may be using them to conceal their identities while being involved in anti-social activities. Some anti-social elements may use this to take advantage and involve in eve-teasing, harassment and public nuisance and hence it has been decided to ban them,” he said .

Reiterating the security arrangements, Mr. Dayananda, said that as many as 11, 830 police personnel along with 93 platoons of KSRP and CAR have been deployed to ensure law and order in the CBD area and also in other parts of the city where large congregations for new year celebrations are expected. Police personnel have been briefed to keep an eye on troublemakers and take strict action immediately.

City traffic police have also organised a special drive to check drink-and-driving since the past one week. The West Division traffic police alone booked 528 cases of drunk driving between December 19 and December 30. The police have seized their driving licences and sent it to the RTO concerned with a recommendation to suspend them.