7-tier security cordon around fortress ITPO

An unprecedented seven-tier security cordon, manned by the Delhi Police, the National Security Guard (NGS), the Indian Army, and other forces, will be thrown around the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) Complex in Pragati Maidan, the main venue for G20 Summit from Friday, turning the venue into a fortress

- Karn Pratap Singh

Around 10,000 security personnel, including commandos are part of the cordon, which also includes teams monitoring hundreds of CCTV cameras, and others vested with sophisticated equipment to thwart any untoward contingency, police officers familiar with the plan said.

The trained officers and commandos of the Delhi Police will be the first layer of the security cordon. Officers of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will be the seventh layer, equipped to counter chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear (CBRN) threats. Trained and armed officers of the Army and Navy, the National Security Guard, the Border Security Force and other armed forces will form the middle layers of the cordon, the officers added, asking not to be identified.

The security protocol for the venue — the event will happen at the International Exhibition and Convention Centre or IECC, called the Bharat Mandapam — also includes safe houses and helicopters on stand-by.