An illuminated view of 'Ram Path' ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.
The security levels in Ayodhya have been raised ahead of the grand opening ceremony of the Ram Temple on January 22. The alert was sounded after inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) about a suspected security breach.
Uttar Pradesh police has deputed about 12,000 personnel in and around Ayodhya after the fresh threats. They have also roped in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor threats.
"MHA has sent a high-level cyber expert team to Ayodhya to deal with cyber threat before Pran Pratistha event," a senior level official told NDTV.
"It's a mega event and continuous inputs regarding misuse of cyberspace are being evaluated and alerts are being issued accordingly," the official added.
He stated that integrated control rooms have been set up where threats are being monitored by various agencies on a real-time basis.
This will be the first time that security agencies will use AI surveillance systems to identify suspicious activities and track down miscreants.
"We have installed about 10,000 CCTV cameras in and around Ayodhya city. Out of these, about 400 are in the vicinity of the shrine and in the yellow zone. The yellow zone is where we are using AI for facial recognition for the first time," says Prashant Kumar, Director General, of Law and Order of Uttar Pradesh police.
Uttar Pradesh's criminal database is being uploaded on the portals to assist AI in identifying and matching criminals.
"The AI-based CCTV surveillance system will also help in detecting frequent visitors or any common trend followed by a group of people while visiting the temple premises," Mr Kumar explains.
PM Modi, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and several other dignitaries will be attending the Ram Temple inauguration ceremony in Ayodhya on Monday.
The rituals for the temple consecration started on January 12. On January 22, PM Modi will perform the puja for the "Pran Pratistha', sources have said. A team of priests led by Lakshmikant Dixit will perform the main rituals of the Pran Prathistha.