Tension escalated in the coastal hamlet of Idinthakarai, the hub of protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP), as over 4,000 police personnel and four companies of Central Reserve Police Force's rapid action force were deployed to neutralise the seven-and-a-half month-old agitation and nab key members of anti-KKNPP group against whom cases had been filed. Since the protesters expected the police to enter their village anytime at night, youths in small groups were seen patrolling the area, while others placed thorny bushes and boulders across two roads leading to Idinthakarai to prevent the entry of policemen.
As anti-KKNPP speeches and sloganeering were going on at the protest venue in front of St. Lourdes' Church here, the police were mobilising their strength, including the CRPF's Rapid Action Force from Thiruvananthapuram, in front of the main entrance of KKNPP. “Our operation will never violate any provisions of law as we are keen on arresting the persons against whom cases have been filed,” said V. Varadharaju, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Tirunelveli Range.