Ten days back, the Bodi police were on night rounds when they intercepted a car with six men. It turned out that they were on their way to commit a murder. The deadly weapons were seized and a murder was averted.

Similarly, vigil by the Theni police has proved effective in averting crime. They have caught offenders involved in sand smuggling in the past couple of months.

“Chances of crime during night are more than during daytime and it is important to be vigilant after sunset. Men are in an inebriated state and involve in mischievous activities. Quarrels lead to fight resulting in violence. So, we have stepped up night rounds,” said Theni district SP, V. Baskaran.

Last week, a man was murdered inside a coconut farm in Thevaram during night and police could reach the spot immediately as they were on night patrol. “In order to make it more effective, we have introduced a new fleet of two-wheeler patrols. There were 39 two-wheeler patrolling vehicles to which a set of 15 have been added and a total of 54 patrol vehicles are roaming all over the district. Police stations with heavy crime reports have been give three vehicles and stations with less crimes are given either two or one depending on the requirement,” he said. “We have identified crime prone areas including Veerapandi, Jeyamangalam, Devadhanapatti and Rayappanpatti and increased patrols covering even remote pockets.”

“The patrolling has helped us reach the crime spot as quickly as possible. Calls to number 100 are attended by the desk at the District Police Office, which then directs the police concerned to reach the spot. They follow up repeatedly until the issue is sorted out,” he added.

“In June, Theni district police have been attending calls to ‘100’ within the least possible time in the state. According to a data in the department, they reach the spot within an average time of 6.51 minutes, which is the least in the State. We hope to reduce this time further and act more effectively and efficiently. In June, we have got over 500 calls. We encourage people to call the police for any complaints and assure them a speedy response and action,” he added.