District police have made elaborate security arrangements, activating all border check-posts, intensifying patrolling along the coast and posting guards at the century-old Pamban rail bridge ahead of the Republic Day celebrations on Monday.
Superintendent of Police N.M. Mylvahanan said all the 12 check-posts on the district border and six check-posts inside the district had been activated and vehicle checks commenced from Saturday night to ensure that no untoward incident took place during the celebrations.
The police also started checking lodges and hotels and intensified highway and bike patrolling and officers’ night rounds throughout the district, he said.
Local police guards had been posted at both ends of the Pamban rail bridge and highway patrolling intensified at Pamban road bridge, the SP said. A company of Tamil Nadu Special Police had been posted at Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram, he added. Surveillance had also been intensified in coastal areas, especially at Arichalmunai, the landing point for intruders from Sri Lanka.
The SP said a six-member anti-sabotage team, headed by an Inspector of Police, would take control of Seethakathi Sethupathi stadium, the venue for the Republic Day celebrations on Sunday and scan the entire venue with the help of sniffer dogs.
Door-frame metal detectors would be installed at two entry points and the visitors would be frisked with hand-held metal detectors at the venue, he said.
