In order to prevent bad elements from indulging in any hooliganism, the national capital will witness intensified vigil at Delhi-Haryana and Delhi-Uttar Pradesh borders, as part of the elaborate security arrangements to ensure peaceful Holi celebrations.
More than 15,000 police personnel will be deployed across the city, officials said. Police have appealed to citizens to celebrate Holi responsibly, avoid forceful colouring and refrain from creating nuisance in public places. "We urge everyone to cooperate, and help maintain peace and harmony during the festival," an officer said.
Liquor shops across the capital will remain open this Holi, as the government has removed the festival from its list of 'dry days', a senior excise department official said on Tuesday.
Huge deployment comes alongside a pre-Holi crackdown under 'Operation Aaghat', during which the southern range of Delhi Police arrested 204 people and apprehended 973 others under preventive provisions.
Special focus this year will remain on drunken driving, rash driving and motorcycle stunts, with multiple pickets to be set up at major intersections, sensitive locations, markets and residential colonies.
"Intensive checking will be conducted at all motorable borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Strategic barricading and ‘naka’ picketing have been planned, and high-visibility policing will be maintained throughout the festival period," a senior police officer said.
Traffic police teams equipped with breath analysers and speed detection devices will conduct day-long drives to identify and prosecute violators. Data shared by police show a steady rise in drunken driving cases over the past three years on the day of the festival - 559 in 2023, 824 in 2024 and 1,213 in 2025.
Action will also be taken against triple riding, over-speeding and performing wheelies or other stunts on two-wheelers, officials said. Cases of riding without helmets on Holi stood at 3,410 in 2023, 1,524 in 2024 and 2,376 in 2025. Under Operation Aaghat, launched across South and Southeast districts, police carried out an intelligence-based synchronised crackdown on habitual offenders, bootleggers, drug peddlers, property offenders and other 'bad characters', they said.
Of the 204 arrests made under various provisions of the BNS, Arms Act, NDPS Act, Delhi Excise Act and Public Gambling Act, four proclaimed offenders and 29 bad characters were held, police said.
In southeast Delhi alone, 137 accused were arrested and 449 persons apprehended under preventive sections. One proclaimed offender was nabbed, 63 challans were issued under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, Rs 11,500 were collected as fine and 273 vehicles were deposited under the Delhi Police Act. In the South district, 67 people were arrested and 524 apprehended preventively. Three proclaimed offenders and 29 habitual offenders were also arrested during the drive.
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