Kolkata, Dec. 13 -- Lionel Messi's scheduled arrival in Kolkata on December 13 as part of the "GOAT India Tour" has prompted the Kolkata Police to activate one of the city's most extensive security operations in recent years.
The Argentine superstar will be accorded Z-plus security, a category typically reserved for visiting heads of state, with more than 5,000 personnel expected to be on the ground to ensure an incident-free visit.
Messi will stay at a hotel on EM Bypass, where a three-tier security cordon will be activated from the moment he arrives.
The innermost layer will be manned by specialised commando units, followed by a buffer ring of armed personnel and an outer ring of crowd-management forces.
A similar multi-layered deploy...