Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday renewed her demand for the retrieval of Katchatheevu and its surrounding areas from Sri Lanka as a permanent solution to the vexatious issue of unprovoked, dastardly, murderous attacks and arrest of fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan Navy.
The Chief Minister made the demand in her speech read out by Municipal Administration Minister K P Munusamy who represented her at the Chief Ministers’ conference that was held in New Delhi.
Stating that the continuing Lankan Navy attacks and the lack of an effective response by the Centre, had agitated the fisherfolk in Tamil Nadu.
She said that such attacks impinged upon the internal security environment in the state. The Chief Minister also said that India should press for redrawal of the international boundary line to protect them.
On the Centre’s move to set up a separate cadre of investigation within the police force as a measure of professionalism, the Chief Minister said the proposal to set up a separate crime investigation agency under a Board of Investigation with a separate cadre of officers and men was an ill-conceived remedy and worse than the malady.
The Chief Minister pointed out that in Tamil Nadu, in accordance with the orders of the Supreme Court, separate Crime Investigation and Law and Order wings had been created in every police station. However, integration between the two wings at the district-level and at the state-level is achieved through the institutions of the Superintendent of Police and the State Police Headquarters, respectively.
“Separating investigation and police functions into watertight compartments by creating a separate cadre is neither practical nor expedient,” the Chief Minister added.