Tamil Nadu cops have full freedom, says Jaya

Chennai: Chief minister J. Jayala­lithaa on Monday pra­is­ed the police force for th­eir professionalism in arresting terror suspect Police Fakruddin in Che­nnai and Andhra Pra­desh last year. “It was a demonstration of a deep sense of responsibility in the realm of public sa­fety,” she said, with two of his associates being arrested without any loss of life from Puttur in Andhra Pradesh.

In a major operation, the TN police had in Oc­tober 2013 arrested Pan­na Ismail and Bilal Ma­lik, two key suspects in the 2011 Advani bomb case and many other ca­ses from Puttur. Police Fakrudeen was nabbed in Chennai earlier. All th­ree were also allegedly involved in a few murders and the Bengaluru BJP headquarters bomb blast.

The CM recalled that she had personally congratulated 260 personnel involved in the operation, giving away cash rewards ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, apart from granting accelerated promotions to 20 cops.

Speaking at the valed­ictory function of the 4th All India Police Com­ma­ndo Com­peti­tion, in wh­ich the TN commando fo­rce won the champion­ship trophy, she said that she was proud of the Ta­mil Nadu police, which was “endowed with unfe­ttered professional freedom in my government and have always risen to the challenges.”

Jayalalithaa pointed out that the All India Police Commando Comp­etition was one of the la­test additions to the an­nual police sports calendar and had been included, considering the im­portance of counter-terrorism skills in the current scenario “where terrorism and extremism are emerging as serious threats to internal security. To upscale our capabilities to do away with this menace, it is imperative that all states have a force of well-trained and equipped commando units,” she added.

Chief secretary Sh­eela Balakrishnan, ho­me secretary Apporva Varma, DGP K. Ramanujam and city police commissioner S. George and ADGP Sanjay Arora were also present. The commando team from the Maha­ra­shtra police won second place while the BSF team bagged third place in the competition in which 23 teams participated.