Chennai: The ongoing statewide protests seeking Cauvery Management Board on Thursday peaked in capital Chennai during the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chennai city airport, which was given a five-tier security on Thursday, witnessed a security breach with more than 100 protestors entering the alighting point of Chennai international airport.
There were 60 special group police personnel from Delhi headed by a DIG spearheading the security arrangements for Modi and another 500 local police personnel cordoned off the airport and approach roads. The entire police machinery focused that the PM had a safe chopper sortie. However, there were no public to wave hands or greet the most popular politician of the country during a mega defence expo event.
The PM during his visit was surrounded by security guards and there were a selected group of ruling AIADMK office-bearers and ministers to greet him throughout the day.
The little respite was that there were hundreds of participants at the defence expo and the Adyar Cancer Institute, who applauded the PM, when he recited a Tirukkural and extended his Tamil New year greetings in Tamil. By and large, the usual staged reception with public thronging on either sides of the road greeting the PM’s convoy was absent this time as the protesters occupied the city roads with black balloons forcing the PM to take up airborne sorties.
By noon as the slogans ‘Go back Modi’ rent the air, traffic also came to a standstill in parts of South Chennai as protesters thronging Chennai airport and Adyar Cancer Institute swelled.
The city police had a tough time cordoning off venues, to ensure that the protesters did not sneak into these packed venues, where even visitors were screened twice despite having valid invitations.
The preventive arrests on Thursday reached an all-time high of over 3,000 as more and more fringe outfits and political party cadres thronged in black shirts, till Modi left Chennai.
