Following the tightening of security at the Sri Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram and other vital installations in and around the island in the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, the Railway Divisional Security Commissioner inspected the security arrangements at the Pamban Rail Bridge on Saturday.
Though a bomb threat call to the century-old bridge on Friday turned out to be a hoax, V. Jeganathan, Divisional Security Commissioner, Railway Protection Force (Madurai Division), inspected the bridge and reviewed its security with bomb detection and disposal and sniffer dog squads.
“Though the bomb threat turned out to be a hoax, we have decided to tighten security at the bridge and at the Rameswaram Railway Station in the aftermath of the serial bomb blasts in Sri Lanka,” he said. As part of precautionary measures, the RPF has deployed a strike force in Rameswaram and is providing round-the-clock security at the bridge in coordination with the Tamil Nadu Railway Police, he said.
Additional forces had been posted at the Ramanathapuram Railway Station and special focus was being provided to the Ramanathapuram–Rameswaram sector, he said. Armed guards had been posted at both ends of the Pamban Rail Bridge, and no outsider could access the bridge, he said, adding that the guards had been asked to keep vigil on boats navigating below the bridge in the Pamban channel. “There was no specific intelligence input about any possible attack, but we have to be abundantly cautious,” he said. Superintendent of Police Omprakash Meena said security arrangements at the temple, public spaces and vital installations in the district would continue to remain in place. All hotels and lodges in Rameswaram and other parts of the district had been checked, and there was no cause for alarm, he said.