The police used Pongal celebrations to strengthen relations with residents of a village in hilly terrain with the objective of preventing them from the possible influence of Maoists.
The celebration titled 'Kurinji Pongal’ last week entailed building goodwill through welfare programmes with residents of Venkatapathi village.
The hilly areas of the district being a part of a junction where Maoist presence is suspected, the police have been organising welfare programmes in recent months to rule out entry of outsiders into the villages.
Superintendent of Police R. Sivakumar took part in all the programmes.
At Venkatapathy, Mr. Sivakumar distributed school bags to children.
Utensils, dhotis, shirts, and saris along with sugarcane were provided to elders.
The police would hold more such programmes in villages in and around forest areas.
