Anxious over the nature of the verdict to be delivered by the special court in Bangalore on Saturday in the assets case against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, thousands of party cadre and sympathisers from across the State flocked to the Garden City on Friday, raising security concerns.
At least 500 vehicles, most of them sporting AIADMK flags crossed over to Karnataka from bordering districts since early Friday. This, police sources said, had prompted the authorities to beef up security at border points near Hosur. Police monitored the movement of vehicles plying towards Karnataka.
The party vehicles were seen crossing the border points even in the evening. While senior officials told The Hindu that no special instructions were received from higher officials to provide additional pickets, police personnel were asked not to take leave on Saturday.
The Nilgiris, bordering Karnataka, is in a state of preparedness to meet any exigency. Police sources said that vehicle checks were intensified on both sides of Kakkanullah on the Nilgiris-Karnataka border. On instructions from the police headquarters, a security scheme was drawn up in all districts to manage any eventualities.
In Coimbatore, the new Mayor P. Rajkumar, Members of the Legislative Assembly T. Malaravan and V.C. Arukutty and AIADMK councillors, numbering around 25, left for Bangalore on Friday. The councillors said they wanted to be there when the judgment is delivered.
State Minister Sellur K. Raju, Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa, a few MLAs in Madurai, accompanied by their supporters left by road for Bangalore. Senior party functionaries said they were all proceeding on their own and that there was no directive from the high command. “We want to express our solidarity with our leader for whom such threats are not new.”
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