Even as the police enhanced vigil along the forest boundaries and inter-State roads leading to Kerala, the Forest Department officials here have urged the tribal people living in forests to alert them of any movement of strangers. This comes in the wake of attack by suspected Maoists in Palakkad district in Kerala.
In addition to the regular police check at the nearly 10 check posts, a special team led by an Inspector was deployed at each check post from Monday.
The police also identified villages close to the border and were in the process of gathering mobile numbers of elected representatives and other important persons near reserve forest areas at Walayar, Pillur Dam, Siruvani, Maangarai and Anamalai.
The Forest department is in a high state of alert to prevent the suspected Maoists from entering Tamil Nadu, a senior Forest Department official told The Hindu here on Monday. Vehicle checks have been intensified in the Nilgiris and sophisticated weapons have been provided to the police stations situated along the border.
The Erode district police beefed up security at Vellithirupur, Thalavadi, Hasanur, Bargur, Kadambur, and Bhavani Sagar stations, said Superintendent of Police M.R. Sibi Chakravarthi.
(With inputs from D. Radhakrishnan in Udhagamandalam & R. Krishnamoorthy in Erode)