Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Police will wipe out Perambalur stigma

By Our Special Correspondent

PERAMBALUR JULY 6. The Perambalur police, strengthened with the newly formed Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), will crack down on all outfits engaged in anti-national or anti-social activities irrespective of their links with the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army, the Tamil National Retrieval Force, or the movement newly-floated by the former TNLA leader, S. Ilavarasan.

Talking to newsmen last night S. Panneerselvam, Superintendent of Police, said the ATS would independently gather intelligence on the movements of the miscreants and draw up its own plan to track down the elements who in recent years had been engaging in extortion of money, two-wheeler thefts and black mail, creating a fear in the minds of businessmen, landowners, financiers and even temple poojaris. Most of the miscreants had very little ideological affinity with the TNLA and the more recent TNRT. They were anti-socials, pure and simple, trying to instil fear in the public by posing as terrorists or as members of outfits.

The police would also take action against all former TNLA and TNRT volunteers if necessary under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Members of the Tamizhar Viduthalai Iyakkam (TVI) too could not escape the police dragnet for offences they had committed earlier as members of the TNLA, Mr. Panneerselvam, said replying to a question. (According to police circles, members of the erstwhile TNLA are functioning under the banner of TVI).

Admitting that in the past two years, there had been an increase in the activities of the anti-socials, when the police were concentrating on containing the law and order problem which arose with the agitation for a separate Ariyalur district, Mr. Panneerselvam that a special action plan was now drawn up go all-out to remove the stigma attached to Perambalur district of being a hotbed of criminality.

To wipe out bootlegging, over 300 persons known to be engaged in illicit distillation would be "bound over" under Section 110 Cr. P.C before revenue divisional officers, so that in case they continued in the business, they could be arrested and lodged in prison for one year. Already residents of two villages in the Jayamkondam region had given an assurance that they would give up illicit brewing and requested the police to prevent illicit arrack distillation in six adjoining villages too.

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