CISF cover being considered for temples

Against the backdrop of bomb attack in a temple in Varanasi, which raised questions about the security in religious places, the government said on Friday that it will look into the possibility of deploying Central Industrial Security Force at important places of worship in the country.

"Considering that we have a number of temples in the country, we will have to examine whether it will be feasible to deploy CISF in all places of worship," Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters, when asked whether the Centre was contemplating giving CISF charge of security of temples.

At the moment, the CISF provides security cover to vital installations like airports, nuclear plants, space centres, oil refineries, monuments and VVIP areas. It is also responsible for the security of sea ports, coal fields, steel plants, high-profile government buildings and mints.

Patil, who was attending CISF's 37th Raising Day celebrations, said already important temples like those in Mathura and Kashi were being guarded by central paramilitary forces. However, he said, "Whether providing security for all the temples was possible or not, we will have to see."