On his last journey on Tuesday, Jyoti Basu will be given state honours and a gun salute before his body is given to a hospital in Kolkata for medical research.
The body will be first taken from the funeral parlour to the party headquarters at 31 Alimuddin Street. From there it will be taken to the State Secretariat, where the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary will pay their last respects.
Then the body will be taken to the State Assembly for the public to file past. The body will be next taken to 'Mohor Kunja,' where a guard of honour will be offered. Then the hospital authorities will take over.
At the Assembly, Basu's body will be placed in a gun carriage and army pall bearers will lead the procession to Citizens' Park, where state police will offer a gun salute to the former chief minister before handing over his body to SSKM Hospital.
At Writers' Buildings, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti will pay their tributes. "Other dignitaries will go to the Assembly," a police officer said.
Sonia Gandhi and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina are also scheduled to attend.
According to the officer, it will be easier to handle the crowd at the Assembly House because of the location and multiple entry and exit points. "The VVIPs will enter and leave through the north gate," he said.
Over 2,000 police personnel are expected to be deployed. The arrangements reminded an officer of the preparations the police had to make after Mother Teresa's death in 1997.
"Several heads of state had come that time. Although we won't have to handle such international dignitaries this time, the real challenge will be managing the crowd," the officer further said.
Source: NDTV
