Staff Correspondent:

Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Monday said that no gathering involving alcohol or drugs will be allowed during the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations.

“During Puja, fairs are often arranged around mandaps where alcohol and drugs are consumed. This year, such fairs will not be permitted, and gatherings involving alcohol or cannabis will be strictly prohibited,” he said.

The adviser came up with the remarks while talking to reporters following a meeting on Durga Puja at the Secretariat.

All Puja mandaps will be under 24-hour surveillance during the festival and adequate Ansar members will be deployed at the venues, he said.

The responsibility of the puja mandap in the border areas will be given to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Ansar members will be deployed across the country, said the adviser.

Referring to the immersion of idols, the adviser said the idols must be immersed one by one and there should be a line for maintaining the queue for immersion of idols.

There are 33,000 Puja mandaps across the country this year.

Last year, Puja was celebrated peacefully, and this year it will be even more peaceful, he said.