Chittoor police on their toes as govt. issues extremist alert

Vigil stepped up along highways leading to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka

Police conducting a security check at the Chittoor railway station on Friday.

In the backdrop of an alert on possible extremist activities in the State, the Chittoor police have stepped up vigilance across the district, especially on national highways and at border checkposts.

The district has a 150-km long porous border with Tamil Nadu from Satyavedu to Kuppam and a border with Karnataka. Police teams have been deployed in Chittoor, Palamaner, Puttur and Madanapalle sub-divisions.

Public places

A senior police officer said the police had increased surveillance across the district, covering public places such as railway stations and bus stands.

In the past, extremists have used the district as a transit to travel to other States and in some cases had established hideouts there. In 2013, three Al-Umma activists were nabbed in Puttur after a lengthy operation by the Tamil Nadu police that lasted for more than 14 hours.

A police personnel and an extremist was injured in the operation.

A similar operation was conducted in Madanapalle to nab an extremist six years ago.

In 1991, after assassinating former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, the killers fled to Tirumala and Tirupati, before escaping to Bengaluru.

In the last decade, the police have been conducting regular cordon and search activities in Palamaner, Punganur and Madanapalle towns in the district.

However, with a steady flow of pilgrims to Tirumala, Tirupati, Srikalahasti and Kanipakam in the district, surveillance was becoming difficult for the police.