TN chief secretary reviews law and order situation with top officials in Coimbatore

Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary V Iraianbu on Saturday reviewed with top officials the law and order situation in Coimbatore in the backdrop of hurling of petrol bombs at many places that happened in the wake of the NIA action against the Popular Front of India (PFI) across the country, including in the state earlier this week.

Properties of BJP and RSS activists and sympathisers being targeted in different districts including Dindugul and Chengalpet in overnight incidents were also reported.

With a number of incidents being reported from the city, security was stepped up with the deployment of additional forces.

On Saturday, Iraianbu reviewed the situation with Coimbatore District Collector G S Sameeran, City Police Commissioner V Balakrishnan, West Zone IG R Sudhakar and Superintendent of Police, V Badrinarayan through video conferencing.

Talking to reporters, Sameeran said the chief secretary reviewed the situation with district collectors, top police officials of 17 districts, particularly Coimbatore about the seven incidents, including the stray ones which occured in the last two days.

Since there were no casualties or major damage to property in the seven incidents, there is no no need for the citizens to be apprehensive.

BJP and RSS functionaries' vehicles were torched and stones pelted in their houses in Coimbatore and nearby areas in the last two days, besides in Dindigul and Chengalpet following the NIA raids against PFI on Thursday for allegedly supporting terror-related activities. The persons behind the incident will be brought to book by going through CCTV footage in the areas, Sameeran said.

Further, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) functionary Zafrullah was waylaid and attacked on Friday, police said.

The administration and police department have organised meetings as part of the need to maintain communal harmony with Muslim and Hindu representatives, Sameeran said.

To a question on delay of arrest of miscreants in connection with the attacks on right-wing outfit members, Balakrishnan said the police have identified a few culprits and action will be taken in a couple of days.

There was a delay in identifying them as their motorcycles were moving in high speed, he said, adding stringent action will be taken against those involved in the cases.

He said 3,500 police personnel were deployed across the city and the police department was monitoring the movement of people, particularly those coming from outside, at the checkposts and border areas of the state.

A special team has been formed to monitor such people and alert the administration, Sameeran said.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Murugaval has been transferred, police said.

In Chennai, BJP state president K Annamalai alleged his party workers were being unnecessarily targeted following the raids against PFI. ''What is the police doing,'' he asked.

Indicating the PFI was behind the attacks, he said the Centre and state took action against the outfit in the interest of national integrity, and those under the security agencies' lens should prove their innocence in the court. ''Rather, they are unnecessarily targeting the BJP,'' he told reporters.

Later in the day, Annamalai said he has written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the ''deteriorating law and order'' situation in Tamil Nadu.

''Petrol bombs, damaging private property have become the norm for anti-national forces which DMK government is finding it hard to reign them in,'' he alleged in a tweet and shared a copy of the letter sent to Shah.

In the letter, Annamalai said few party supporters and their families were subjected to unnecessary troubles in the last couple of days since there were petrol bomb attacks, setting cars, offices and other properties on fire.

''As of now, there have been about 19 incidents reported by our karyakartas and supporters in Tamil Nadu and police complaints have been registered in all these incidents in the local jurisdictional police stations. Thankfully, there were no casualties reported in any of these incidents,'' he said.

Meanwhile, a car belonging to a BJP functionary was charred after being set on fire by unidentified persons in Erode district early on Saturday morning.

According to police, Sivasekar (51), former deputy chairman of the district propaganda wing of BJP, is running a travel agency at his house in Punjai Puliampaty village near Sathyamangalam town. He kept five cars parked outside his house on Friday night.

Around 2 am on Saturday, some miscreants poured petrol over one of the cars belonging to Sivasekar and set it ablaze.

Fire services personnel reached the area and managed to douse the flames but the vehicle was completely gutted.

On a complaint lodged by Sivasekar, a case was registered by Punjai Puliampaty police later in the day.

Police patrol was intensified in Sathyamangalam and Punjai Puliampaty areas. Erode Superintendent of Police V Sasimohan visited the spot and formed a special team to investigate the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)