Rapid Action Battalion has taken special measures ahead of Pahela Baishakh across the country, said Director General (DG) of the elite force Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun on Wednesday

“We have taken measures to eliminate any militant threat, even though there is nothing specific right now,” said the Rab chief.

“Like previous year, special security arrangements have been taken on the occasion of  Pahela Baishakh.

After inspecting security arrangements in Ramna and surrounding areas, the hub of the festival, he said adding additional Rab forces will be there to avert any untoward incident

Rab strengthened intelligence vigilance to ensure overall security across the country ahead of the festival, he said.

READ: Pahela Baishakh celebrations must end by 2 pm: DMP Commissioner

Apart from Ramna Batamul, security arrangements have been boosted in Dhaka University, Rabindra Sarobor, Shilpakala Academy, BICC Bhaban, Nazrul Academy, Uttara ground and other places where the programmes of Pahela Baishakh are scheduled to be held, he said.

Check posts have been installed in TSC, Shahbagh, Suhrawardy Uddyan and Ramna Batamul while observation posts also set up for security reasons.

Alongside these, important venues will be swept through the bomb disposal unit and dog squad of Rab.

A commando team of Rab will be kept ready to tackle any sabotage activity or deal with any unwanted situation, he said.

The air wing team of Rab will patrol by helicopters to oversee the situation.

Rab will also take steps for cyber monitoring to check spread of rumour in social networking sites, he said.