CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Tuesday held an emergency meeting with senior police officials at the secretariat to review the law and order situation in Tamil Nadu following reports of multiple murders across the state on Deepavali and the following day.
The meeting, which lasted around 20 minutes, was attended by Chief Secretary Sai Kumar, Home Secretary Karthik, DGP Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, ADGP (L&O) TS Anbu, Chennai Police Commissioner A Amalraj and Intelligence IG Asra Garg, and other senior officials.
Reports of multiple murders on a single day including those of a special sub inspector in Theni, two minor boys and revenge killings of youth triggered criticism from opposition parties.
In this backdrop, as the new government completed its first six-month term, it is learnt that the chief minister reviewed maintenance of law and order, progress of investigations and the steps being taken by the police to prevent crimes.
The review meeting also gains significance as the ruling TVK has convened a meeting of its MLAs at the party headquarters in Panaiyur on Wednesday, following reports of incidents involving its legislators.
Not justifying recent murders: Minister
Responding to criticism over his reference on Monday to previous years’ murder figures when questioned about the high number of murders reported during Deepavali this year, minister A Rajmohan said he had cited the figures only to point out that such incidents had occurred in the past as well, and not to justify the recent killings.
He said the police had increased patrolling, identified and arrested rowdies involved in organised crime, and intensified action against drug networks to prevent such incidents. He added that the police had been given complete freedom to investigate without political interference.
