Court directive to provide security for KVK Kuppam

The Madras High Court on Monday said sufficient security arrangements should be made at KVK Kuppam in Tiruvottiyur here on the Assembly elections day so that the villagers may cast their votes freely and peacefully.

The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice M.Y. Eqbal and Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, passed the order while disposing of a petition seeking adequate protection for the entire village.

The petitioner, K. Anjappan, submitted there were 400 fishermen families in the village. During the 2006 Assembly elections, several villagers were assaulted. The apprehension is that unless sufficient security forces are deployed in the village, the incident may recur.

The EC's counsel produced the instructions received in the matter wherein it was stated that a new Assistant Commissioner of Police, Navaneethakrishnan, had replaced the existing police officer based on EC's instructions. Moreover, sufficient security arrangements had been made for the villagers' safety.

At present, there was no specific threat to the villagers as ascertained by the Commissioner of Police, Chennai Suburban.

The Bench said that as assured by the Election Commission, sufficient security should be provided on the election date.