Over 5 lakh devotees take part in Sathya Sai Baba’s centenary celebrations

The centenary celebrations of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba concluded on Sunday at Puttaparthi, drawing over five lakhs of devotees and several top national leaders during the last one week.

Speaking to the media here on Monday (November 24), Superintendent of Police S. Satish Kumar thanked multiple departments, the public of Puttaparthi and voluntary organisations for their coordinated efforts, which ensured the event concluded successfully.

The SP said that the State government activated one of its largest security deployments in recent years, with 5,300 personnel drawn from 17 districts. Forces included Greyhounds, Octopus, SRDFN teams, crime units, dog squads, women police and APSP platoons. Surveillance was maintained using 370 CCTV cameras, drones with night-vision capability, and continuous monitoring across approach roads, residential zones and event venues. Cordon-and-search operations were conducted to prevent unlawful activity, while each DSP in the Satya Sai district was assigned specific responsibilities.

Mr. Satish Kumar said that advance planning began a month earlier, focusing on traffic management, crowd handling and dedicated parking arrangements to ensure smooth movement for devotees. Police arranged vehicles for 230 VIPs and executed special movement protocols throughout the three days of high-profile visits.

Senior police officials recalled that a security operation of comparable scale was last conducted in 2006 during the visit of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Puttaparthi.