All 90 student ‘route thalas’ from city colleges took a pledge before the police that they would not engage in unruly activities and would make their parents proud.
After a group of students from Pachaiyappa’s College attacked another group with swords and knives on an arterial road early this week, the police started cracking down against unruly college students. After identifying 90 ‘route thalas’ (head of each bus route) from various colleges in the city, the police asked them to come with their parents to offices of senior police officers.
The officers administered the oath at the offices of Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of Police, Ambattur, Puliyanthope, Madhavaram, Anna Nagar and Washermanpet.
The students took a solemn oath that they would not indulge in any act of violence or any act threatening the public. The DCs then obtained written undertakings from the students that they would not indulge in violence and would surrender and face legal action if they broke their promises.
Additional Commissioner of Police R. Dhinakaran told The Hindu : “We identified the trouble-making students and brought them to take the oath on Friday.” “This will send a strong message to the erring students,” he said. The 90 students would be monitored by SIs, he added.
Happy parents
At the Madhavaram DCP office, 29 ‘route thalas’ were made to take the oath. Parents were also given suitable instructions to monitor their sons. “Parents were happy and appreciated the initiative taken by the police,” said an officer.
On Friday, the city police monitored the movement of students on several bus routes. Colleges closed their gates at 10 a.m. and latecomers were not allowed inside, the police said.
