THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In order to prevent theft during the Attukal Pongala festival, which attracts thousands of people to the city, police have compiled a photo album of 55 notorious female criminals with strong criminal antecedents, mostly from border areas of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, who have a prior history of chain snatching and theft.
The photographs have been circulated among Attukal temple authorities on WhatsApp so that they can identify potential troublemakers from the crowd, and police officials have been provided with photo albums to locate such individuals if they turn up in the city.
The names and photos of the women having strong criminal antecedents were collected by the Special Branch. The police officials placed on duty near Attukal temple and its premises have also been provided photo albums to locate such people if they turn up in the city on the pretext of attending the Pongala festival.
“We managed to spot a few of them when they got down at Thampanoor station in recent days. However, sensing police presence many did not come out of the train and fled the state,” the sources said.
“We verified the past criminal records and also sought the help of the Tamil Nadu police to prepare the details of the history sheeters.All these people have strong criminal antecedents, including chain snatching and theft. All of them are either from Tamil Nadu or from the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border areas. Because of that many could speak Malayalam as well,” the sources added.
To prevent any untoward incident, the police have enhanced the camera surveillance in the city limits, especially near the temple and its surroundings. Initially, 120 security cameras were installed by the police, which was later increased to 150. Close to 75 cops, both men, and women have been deployed in plainclothes to monitor the crowd, while spotters from Tamil Nadu police have also been deployed to identify miscreants from that state.
