As many as 5,000 security personnel have been deployed to ensure full security to visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa who will be here today to lay the foundation stone of an international Buddhist University.
Heavy security cover has been put in place on all the roads leading to Sanchi from state capital Bhopal; bus and railway stations and all markets were closed.
State authorities have also asked the Railway Ministry to ensure that no train stops in stations between Bhopal and Vidisha, including Sanchi, in view of the protest by some Tamil groups.
Around 11 trains stop between Vidisha and Bhopal on normal days.
“We have made elaborate security arrangements. Each and every place has been covered,” said Ajay Sharma, Inspector General of Madhya Pradesh Police and in-charge of security for Rajapaksa’s visit.
All commercial establishments near Sanchi have been closed by authorities.
Rajapaksa will visit Sanchi Stupa, where relics of Lord Buddha are kept, and then lay the foundation stone for ‘Sanchi University of Buddhist and Indic Studies’ aimed at promoting the mutual relationship between Asian countries.
Rajapaksa will come here by helicopter from Bhopal.
At Sanchi, he will be received by Madhya Pradesh Culture and Public Relations Minister Laxmikant Sharma.
Hundreds of Buddhists have come from across the country and many from outside to participate in today’s function.