Soon after the bomb explosion in the Bangalore-Guwahati Express at the Central station here on Thursday, Tamil Nadu came under a security blanket, with additional police deployment, more checks at public places and special protection provided at places of worship and vital infrastructural installations.
MaduraiIn the temple city of Madurai, security was intensified in the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.
The surveillance cameras at several points in that city “are being monitored round the clock,” though there was no specific threat to the shrine, said Madurai City Commissioner of Police, Sanjay Mathur.
Security was also enhanced at the other historic temples in the south including those at Tiruchendur, Palani and Rameswaram.
Southern districtsAn extra eye is kept on key infrastructure in the southern districts, in particular the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP), the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre at Mahendragiri and VOC Port in Tuticorin. The KNPP site director, R. S. Sundar told The Hindu that adequate security was put in place in and around the Kudankulam plant in Tirunelveli district.
Tighter vigil was mounted at the historically famous Padmanabhapuram palace known as the ‘wooden palace’ in Kanyakumari district, after the Central intelligence agencies had alerted about a possible threat to the 18 century structure.
Many security personnel were on duty at counting centres where the EVMs’ have been kept and also in Kodaikanal hill station to guide tourists, police said.
Delta districtsIn Nagapattinam district, security has been beefed up at all vital installations and places of worship with the police administration deploying close to 400 personnel for surveillance.
Special surveillance is on at Vaitheeswaran temple, the Thirukadayur Abhirami temple, the famous temple for Lord Saturn at Thirunallar, the Vedaranyeshwarar temple, the Velankanni Basilica and at Nagore Dargah.
In Karaikal, all police stations have been put on high alert, said Monica Bhardwaj, Superintendent of Police, Karaikal.
In Coimbatore, railway stations and other vital installations including the Coimbatore airport in the western region were brought under tight security following the Chennai blasts.
An intensive surveillance of vehicle movement was also on in Coimbatore city, said its Police Commissioner A.K. Viswanathan.
In Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Ariyalur districts, rail and bus stations came under an intense surveillance on Thursday with security personnel not ready to take no chances at all.
One heldIn a joint operation, the Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan police on Thursday arrested Ashraf Ali (40) of Cuddalore in connection with a bomb blast in Jodhpur recently. According to police sources, Ali was arrested from his hideout in Parangipet in the district. He would be produced in a local court for obtaining transit remand.
(With inputs from L.Srikrishna in Madurai, P.V. Srividya in Nagapattinam, K.V. Prasad in Coimbatore and M. Balaganessin in Tiruchi)
