Tamil Nadu

Temples under security blanket

— Photo: K. Ganesan

TAKING NO CHANCES: A policeman deployed on a high-rise building near the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai on Thursday.

CHENNAI/MADURAI: Unprecedented security arrangements have been made at major temples across the State as part of an elaborate scheme covering places of worship, vital installations and hospitals.

The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai that is a facing a threat from the banned Lakshkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has come under the scanner of the local police and intelligence agencies. Armed police personnel have been deployed at all entry points. Traffic has been prohibited on the four Chithirai Streets (surrounding the temple) and approach roads (Avani Moola Streets).

Apart from 300 uniformed personnel posted inside and outside the temple complex, trained plainclothesmen had also been deployed to handle any emergencies, a senior officer at the temple control room said.

Four watch towers have been erected around the temple with policemen equipped with binoculars. Twenty-eight vulnerable points, including the ‘Iruttu Mandapam,’ where a bomb blast occurred in 1996, have been identified and additional manpower posted, police sources said. Areas in close vicinity of the temple had been declared “sterile zones”.

Director-General of Police K.P. Jain, who reviewed the law and order situation at a meeting with top police officers here on Thursday, said security at major temples and shopping malls would be upgraded as a permanent safety measure. “We are going to introduce more security gadgets, access control measures and screening techniques…”, he said

Sources in the intelligence agencies told The Hindu on Thursday that the LeT threat to the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple was perceived in the last week of August. On a tip-off from the Research and Analysis Wing, the Intelligence Bureau alerted Tamil Nadu police. On August 27, the threat was conveyed to the Madurai police.

In Chennai, a storming operation was organised at the Koyambedu Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Anna Nagar), M. Pandian, led a large contingent of police personnel, who conducted anti-sabotage checks. Sleuths of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad and sniffer dogs were also pressed into service.

Commissioner of Police R. Sekar said it was a routine exercise and similar storming operations would be conducted in other areas of public gathering. “It is an attempt to sensitise the people on security aspects,” he added.

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