Tamil Nadu: Security beefed up in 5 districts for Thevar Jayanthi

MADURAI: Around 10,000 police personnel, more than a dozen drones and CCTV cameras have been deployed in five districts ahead of Thevar Jayanthi, the birthday of Muthuramalinga Thevar, to be observed at Pasumpon village in Ramanathapuram on Sunday.
Leaders of various political parties including DMK, AIADMK, AMMK and BJP are set to pay tributes at Thevar memorial. The power struggle in AIADMK has also added a new dimension to tensions as expelled leader O Panneerselvam is expected to be in Pasumpon for the Guru Puja while AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami is paying his respects at Chennai.
Former ministers Dindigul C Srinivasan, Sellur K Raju, R B Udhayakumar and K T Rajenthra Balaji from the EPS faction are among those who are paying tributes at Pasumpon.
Four DIGs and 34 SPs led by south zone IG Asra Garg will oversee security in places across Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Dindigul, Virudhunagar and Sivaganga districts. Around 14 drones are being deployed for crowd management. A control room has also been set up at Pasumpon village and 95 CCTV cameras installed for monitoring crowds.
Duraimurugan, K N Nehru, I Periyasamy, P Moorthy, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and others will be paying their respects to Thevar.
Expelled AIADMK leaders O Panneerselvam, V K Sasikala and AMMK chief TTV Dhinakaran are scheduled to visit Pasumpon.