Chennai: Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Monday described extremism, communalism and left-wing terrorism as “very big threats” to the society, and called for strengthening the police intelligence mechanism to tackle anti-social elements.
Addressing a conference of collectors and district police heads here, he said efforts should be made to ensure that such dangerous elements do not take rise at all. “Extremism, communalism and left-wing terrorism are very big threats to the society. To efficiently handle such challenges, intelligence organisations should be strengthened and they (anti-social elements) should be nipped in the bud,” the CM said.
He urged the collectors and district police heads to ensure that “destructive forces” are kept under control and ensure the state progressed on the growth path. All-round peace is the hallmark of the AIADMK government, he said, adding people and groups acting against the interest of national security should be dealt with strictly under the National Security Act.
The CM also urged the officials to ensure that there was no caste-related tensions and asked them to ensure social amity by holding regular conciliatory meetings among different groups. Elements trying to foment caste-related tensions should be identified and action should be initiated against them. On the safety front, authorities must employ “visible policing” to prevent instances of robbery and chain-snatching, the CM said.
He said there should be no delay in acting on complaints of economic offences, crimes against women and children, and honour killings. The perpetrators of crime should be brought to the book swiftly, he said.
Referring to the recent blaze at the famous Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple, the CM said the concerned authorities should take all steps to prevent recurrence of such incident.
Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Niranjan Mardi and DGP T K Rajendiran, among others, attended the conference. The three-day conference will go on till March 7, with the CM holding separate discussions with the district collectors on Tuesday and the SPs on Wednesday.
