Tamil Nadu CM Meets Top Cops for 3rd Day, Ahead of Gov’s Delhi Trip

Chennai: Urging the police to stop the burgeoning crime rate at any cost, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay met the top-level officers of the police department at the Secretariat for the third consecutive day on Thursday even as Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was getting set to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and brief him on the law and order situation on Friday morning in New Delhi.

Amidst the speculation that the Union Government had sought a report from the Governor on the latest law and order situation in the State, the TVK government led by Vijay had already embarked a damage control exercise in view of the recent proliferation of crimes, including murders, during the Deepavali season, raising doubt on the efficient maintenance of law and order.

Arlekar’s proposed meeting with the Home Secretary also gained significance since he had called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi on November 6. Since it is now known as to what transpired at the meeting, Vijay might have become apprehensive about his meeting with Amit Shah.

Since Tuesday, the Chief Minister has been interacting with the DGP and other top officials of the department along with the Chief Secretary every day to find a solution to the apparent deterioration of law and order that had led to criminals having a free run in the State much to the detriment of public order and general peace.

Soon after the Chief Minister started speaking to the DGP and other top police officers, rowdy elements and criminals were on the run as police crackdown on them began. While habitual offenders were picked up and even locked up in jails across the State, newcomers to the crime world were warned and subdued by the police.

Though the police department had assured to bring down the crime rates, Vijay is said to have told them to do it quickly at any cost to instil confidence in the minds of the people. The government was more concerned over the increased criticism by opposition party leaders on the government’s failure to curb crime even as a section of the social media went to town creating panic among the people.

It is in this backdrop, Vijay is putting pressure on the police department to ensure that law and order in the State was on course and crimes were curbed. The Chief Minister’s meeting with his party MLAs at a beach resort on Wednesday is also said to be an exercise aimed at reining in his party leaders from criminal activities.