Diwali shopping: Chennai police advise woman to wear scarves around their necks to avoid chain-snatching

CHENNAI: The Chennai police have advised women to wear scarves around their necks to avoid chain-snatching incidents when they visit crowded places for Diwali shopping.

The police have been monitoring the public movement in T Nagar, Washermenpet, Purasawalkam and Flower Bazaar where people throng for shopping.

A total of 17 temporary watch towers have been set up in all four places. At least seven watch towers were installed in T Nagar, three towers each in Washermenpat and Kilpau, and four towers in Flower Bazaar.

Around 18,000 police personnel have been deployed on a rotational basis to monitor offenders. They would roam in crowded places in plainclothes.

The city police have set up five temporary control rooms and 10 temporary help desks in T Nagar, Washermenpet, Purasawalkam and Flower Bazaar areas. They will monitor CCTV camera footage to track the movement of criminals. Apart from this, the cops have made arrangements to hand over missing children to their parents.

An additional 42 CCTV cameras have been installed in T Nagar and Washermenpet. Specific instructions have been given to prevent the occurrence of crimes and not to cause traffic jams. Instructions are given regarding the methods of protecting cell phones, money, gold jewelry and belongings.

The police are using four drone cameras each to monitor the public movements to prevent crimes. Baggage of the public is vetted randomly through mobile x-ray baggage scanner vehicles at commercial establishments, shopping malls and places where people throng in large numbers.

Ambulances with medical teams and fire engines with firefighters are in place to attend to any emergency.

Adequate safety measures have been taken in and around cracker shops to prevent any untoward incident.

Special bus depots have been arranged at Koyambedu, Madhavaram and K K Nagar for the benefit of people going to their native places to celebrate Diwali.