CHENNAI: Praising the efforts of the police officers and personnel, Director General of Police JK Tripathy has issued a circular thanking the tireless efforts and dedication of the police officers and personnel who were part of the bandobust duty for the 48-day-long Aththi Varadhar festival at Sri Devarajaswamy temple in Kancheepuram.
With around two lakh devotees visiting the temple every day for the past six weeks, the police personnel are doing a scintilating job in peaceful conduct and facilitating the devotees, the state's top police officer said. "Now, it is important to sustain this hard work and motivation until the end of the festival on Saturday," the circular dated August 12 said.
"All officers on bandobust at Sri Devarajaswamy temple, Kancheepuram are requested to bring out the best in their leadership skills and help channelise all the energy of the police personnel towards ensuring the best public service delivery," Tripathy's circular read.
This circular is issued three days after the Kancheepuram collector P Ponnaiah verbally abused a police inspector for allowing public enter through the VVIP entrance at the Devarajaswamy temple. The video of the incident went viral on social media and the collector also subsequently clarified.
In the video, the collector was seen calling the inspector 'rascal' and threatening to suspend him for not checking the passes and allowing people without the valid passes to enter through the VVIP entrance on the west gopuram side of the temple. The entire incident happened in front of the public and other police personnel and the inspector was seen apologising.
The unexpected level of crowd also put great stress on the police and the devotees. In the first week of the festival, two men died allegedly due to the highhandedness of the police and eight others died due to suffocation. The State government said in many cases the reason of death was health issues