The heavy police deployment in the city to maintain law and order during the strike by several unions of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation workers was also effective in crime prevention.
Police sources said no incident of robbery or chain snatching was reported in the city on the four days since Sunday. A large number of police personnel were deployed on arterial roads and important junctions in view of the strike. “It was mainly to prevent angry protestors from stopping the buses that were being operated by the ruling party-affiliated union workers. However, it also had a spin-off that was good for us,” a police officer said.
The city had been witnessing several incidents of chain snatching not only under the cover of darkness but also during broad daylight.
“It was because of the visible policing. Apart from traffic police personnel posted at all major junctions, we had put police pickets in all bus routes. At least two police personnel would be present there. At important junctions we had posted two police personnel along with a Sub-Inspector of Police,” the officer said.
Over and above, 15 two-wheeler patrols and 15 four-wheeler patrols were pressed into service throughout the day. The deployment that started at around 3 a.m. continued without any break till 11 p.m. Criminals knew that there was little chance to escape from the police who were present at important junctions.
The police security was withdrawn only after the transport workers called off their strike. Stating that almost all the officers and police personnel were on duty in the last four days, the officer said continuing with such a bandobust was not humanly possible on all days.
