The town came under thick security cover on Monday ahead of the Chief Minister’s Mass Contact Programme with 3,700 police personnel coming down from Thrissur to Kasargod. The town wore the look of a huge police camp with police vehicles parked everywhere, frequent mock drills and men in uniform gathered at every nook and corner to give protection to the Chief Minister who would attend the programme on Tuesday, in his first visit to the district after the attack on him during his last visit on October 27. Meanwhile, the LDF leadership criticised the police authorities for creating unnecessary scare among the public andc alled it a ‘stunt’ to score political points. LDF district convener K P Sahadevan, in a statement, reiterated thatt he front would not back out from holding peaceful black flag protests against what he called “one of the worst corruption in the history of the state.
Jawahar stadium and nearby were declared special security zone with eight security checkpoints placed to restrict entry into the area. North Zone ADGP N Shanker Reddy will be in charge of the security for the Chief Minister andKannur Range IG Suresh Raj Purohit will monitor the overall security arrangements. District police chief Rahul R Nair will be in charge of law and order. A total of 3,700 police personnel including four SPs, 30 DySPs, 37 CIs and 120 woman police officers were posted in the town. Personnel from MSP, KAP, Armed Reserve Police, Thunderbolt and quick response team will also form part of the security along with the Shadow Police and special branch police team.