Tight security for Deepavali shopping

Tight security arrangements have been ensured in all the busy commercial areas of Coimbatore city to ensure a crime and incident-free shopping experience during the Deepavali season, said P. Sivanandi, City Police Commissioner.Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr. Sivanandi said that 2,400 policemen had been deployed across the city. In addition to policemen in uniform, personnel in plain clothes were also mingling with the crowd on the look out for habitual offenders and those known for two-wheeler lifting, bag lifting, chain snatching and pocket picking. Police personnel had been deployed as decoys under the guise of platform vendors, salesmen and special teams had been equipped with a dossier of wanted criminals.

For ensuring better surveillance, watch towers had been installed at many places where binocular wielding police personnel maintain vigil. At many places across the city, surveillance cameras and speed dome cameras had been installed in addition to barricading for segregating the flow of pedestrians and vehicular traffic.For crowd management, the services of home guards were also being roped in. Vigil had been stepped up in buses to prevent pocket picking and already 15 pocket pickers had been taken into custody.

Special teams were functioning under the direct supervision of Deputy Commissioners of Police P. Nagarajan (Law and Order) and N. Kamini (Crime and Traffic).Mr. Sivanandi said that to prevent the movement of criminals, combing operations would be carried out at night by conducting lodge checks and vehicle checks at random points at frequent intervals.

Officials had been asked to shadow watch known depredators, history sheeters and ex-convicts and who were released recently from the prison.All cracker shops were being subjected to frequent inspection by officers and to prevent fire accidents, shop keepers had been asked to keep sand and water ready in front of their shops.

Of the 300 applications for fire cracker shops, 290 had been cleared.He exhorted the public to avoid using fire crackers in thickly populated areas and near hospitals.“Public are welcome to burst crackers in open grounds and common places.” He also requested the public to avoid sound generating cracker varieties after 10 p.m. and till 6 a.m.

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