Date:02/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/02/stories/2009010258960300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Celebrations peaceful

Special correspondent

CHENNAI: The New Year celebrations in the city passed off peacefully with just a few stray incidents on Wednesday night, police sources said.

Security was tight in star hotels and the entry was restricted. Visitors to a few hotels said they were screened by policemen and persons in plainclothes at the entrance. At major street intersections a posse of police personnel was posted. Members of the Pattali Makkal Katchi who staged demonstrations in front of three hotels in the city were picked up and set free on Thursday morning. According to police, the PMK cadre protested against the ‘party culture’ for over two hours on Wednesday night.

The Government General Hospital received fewer accident victims on Wednesday night, compared to the previous New Year celebrations. Police said the hospital witnessed 21 cases of road traffic accident and most of the injured were two-wheeler riders. Midnight masses were conducted in churches and people thronged temples on Wednesday midnight and through the day on Thursday. Traffic on one stretch of Venkatnarayana Road was not permitted to facilitate movement of visitors to the TTD Information Centre there.