CHENNAI, March 20: Over 86,000 strong police personnel in Tamil Nadu -- from constables to the DGP -- will get a cash reward of Rs 1,000 each for preventing bomb blasts on March 19 and for the "lightning speed" with which they seized explosives and arrested fundamentalists in the wake of the Coimbatore serial blasts. Making a suo-moto statement in the State Assembly on Friday, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, who also holds the home portfolio, thanked the police on behalf of the Government and the people for the measures taken by them in anticipating and preventing the "threatened" bomb blasts on March 19 (when Atal Behari Vajpayee was sworn-in as prime minister).Praising the police personnel for maintaining vigilance in the state by risking their lives and without even having proper sleep or rest, the CM wished and hoped that their vigil would continue.
Meanwhile, the police have launched a hunt for a 20-year-old woman of Mamsapuram near Sriviliputtur in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu for her allegedconnection with Muslim fundamentalists. Madurai range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police M Ganesan said that a substantial reward has been announced for people giving information about her whereabouts.
According to sources, the woman, Sangeetha alias Ayesha, married one Usman Ali of Sattur , who is said to be the main accused in the case relating to stockpiling of explosives in a house at Vadapalani in Chennai. He had reportedly escaped along with Ayesha before the police could arrive at the scene at Chennai.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
