Durga Puja, the biggest festival of Bengalis, starts on the Maha Sasti day today. The invocation of Devi Durga will take place in the evening. The State Government has made eleborate arrangements to maintain law and order. Our Kolkata Correspondent reports, around thirty-three thousand police personnel have been engaged to monitor the situation. Seventy-four Closed Circuit TVs and forty-eight watch towers have been set up at strategic locations. The Eastern, South-Eastern and Metro Railways have decided to run special trains during puja days.

In Assam, the five day-long Durga puja festivities began with Bilva Bodhan. Security has been placed on high alert across the state following intelligence inputs that some militant groups might try to disrupt peace during the festival. Additional paramilitary forces are being deployed in all the vulnerable locations to keep a strict vigil on the anti-social elements. In Guwahati city, a three-tier security arrangement has been made in cooperation with the puja committees and voluntary organizations. Over five hundred decorative puja pandals have been erected in Guwahati city alone this year. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has greeted the people of Assam on the occasion of the Durga Puja. In the National Capital Delhi, all arrangements are complete for the Puja celebrations.