High Court rap forces Tamil Nadu cops to buy 'monkey caps' to mask accused

Shanmughasundaram J | Mar 23, 2016, 09.18 AM IST

Tiruvannamalai: Rifles, lathis and handcuffs are permanent assets of a police station. But soon, stations across the state will also keep a set of monkey caps.

The station head officers (inspectors of police) of all the 39 police stations, including six all women police stations, in seven sub-divisions in Tiruvannamalai district have been instructed to buy and stock monkey caps to conceal the identity of the accused while they are escorted to the court, said reliable sources in the police department, citing the SP's oral communication.

The move comes in the wake of a Madras high court stricture against the police department on March 17 for photographs of the accused in the Udumalpet 'honour' killing being circulated in social media and published in a few newspapers. Pictures of the five men, who were arrested in connection with the murder of a dalit youth, appeared in newspapers. A division bench hauled up the public prosecutor for allowing media to take pictures of the accused, despite an HC order forbidding it.

The HC had already directed the director general of police to notify the police stations not to publish photographs of the accused persons, as it will obstruct investigation.

Superintendent of police of Tiruvananmalai R Ponni issued a direction to all deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and station head officers a couple of days ago to stock up on monkey caps. 'Use monkey caps to hide the faces of the accused while escorting them to the court. In each station, a minimum of five caps should be kept ready', was the direction of the SP communicated to police officers.

A village where there are no party flags

Shanmughasundaram J | TNN | Mar 14, 2016, 08.37 AM IST

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Tucked away from the Vellore-Tiruvannamalai state highway near Santhavasal, Vellur - I has been leading a silent revolution for over four decades now. More than 3,000 villagers here are upholding an age-old tradition of keeping their village free from flags of political parties, their banners and graffiti which otherwise block streets and occupy pavements in other parts of the state.

Much before the Election Commission drafted rules and regulations to streamline the polling process, the elders of this village laid down protocols for the younger generation to ensure that they were away from practices that could divide them, conspicuously , on political lines.

Keeping the tradition alive, residents continue to keep their village free from poll merchandise, graffiti, banners and movie posters. "Banners are allowed only for temple festivals and marriage functions. But, no pictures of film stars or politicians are allowed on these banners," said 18 year-old M Prasanth.

Youngsters in the village are keen on living up to this reputation. "We respect our elders and forefathers. Here, defacing the walls is unheard of. I have never seen members of a political party hoisting a flag. The men here are affiliated to AIADMK, DMK and VCK, but they maintain the village discipline," said 20 year-old Balaji.
Political parties are expected to take permission from the village elders before campaigning. Giving or taking money for votes is prohibited. The villagers have never missed a chance to exercise their voting rights. It records over 90% voting in any election. "The village has close to 1,000 voters. We encourage everyone to exercise their democratic right," said D Velumayilone, a government employee. "We nominate booth agents for the political parties."

In the last assembly election, one of the villagers was fined for letting workers of a political party smear the walls of his house with graffiti. "There is not a single political message on the walls. House owners are not allowed to paint their walls to show their support for a political party by way of graffiti or other messages. Everyone remains together and votes according to his or her wish," said Vasantha, a 

Mar 25 2016 : The Times of India (Chennai) Vellore village decides to boycott polls When the government and officials are not bothered about our safety and livelihood, then  why should we take part in the elections and vote?” asked a group of villagers. Shanmughasundaram J Vellore:   Residents of Peru mugai panchayat in Vellore constituency have been wag ing a war against stone quar ries in the village for more than two decades. With al their efforts to close down the quarries failing, they are now threatening to boycott the as sembly election.The villagers sent a pet ition to Chief Election Officer Rajesh Lakhoni on Thursday stating that they decided to boycott the assembly election Several residents of the pan chayat, which has around 2,500 voters, have signed the petition to exhibit solidarity. The villagers, in the pet ition, stated that they have been demanding the closure of the stone quarries that have severely affected their livelihood and the environment, since 1994. Nonetheless, the government and authorities have turned a blind eye to their anguish, forcing them to boycott the election, they said. The money and muscle power of the contractors and politicians, who run the quarries, is a threat to the villagers' safety. Though the villagers petitioned the district collector, mines and minerals department, chief secretaries, chief minister special cell, police and political leaders numerous times since 1998, the quarries continue to flourish.“At 15 persons were killed in quarry-related accidents since the quarries were opened here,“ said an elderly woman. Murugan Kovil and Ponniyamman Kovil atop the Perumaladi hill have also borne the brunt of blasting and quarrying activities. “ The idol of the presiding deity (Lord Murugan) of the temple developed cracks due to excess use of explosives in quarries. We removed the damaged idol from the temple two years ago,“ said a retired government staff. The villagers also charged that the contractors were colluding with the officials and the panchayat president and reportedly smuggled tonnes of gravels and red sand. “The contractors are not permitted to transport the gravel and red sand from the quarry . But they have been smuggling not less than 50 loads (around 500 units) of minerals per day in the last 10 to 15 years. One unit of gravel is sold at `1,200, “ alleged a villager.

7-yr-old lists out names of all 234 seats in state, becomes EC's ambassador

7-yr-old lists out names of all 234 seats in state, becomes EC's ambassador

Shanmugha Sundaram

Tiruvannamalai:

 





Preethi,a Class 2 girl from Tiruvannamalai district, will soon join the pantheon of stars selected by the Election Commission to promote awareness on voting for the May 16 assembly election in Tamil Nadu.The seven-year-old student of Vilanallur Panchayat Union Middle School, who can recite the names of all the 234 constituencies in the state in less than five minutes, was on Thursday designated the Election Commission ambassador for Cheyyar constituency. She will soon begin shooting for promotional short films on voters' awareness.
“We are encouraging such young talents by giving incentives and recognition. We have 1,200 officially designated college campus ambassadors, students selected to encourage their classmates to get enrolled in the voters' list,“ chief election officer Rajesh Lakhani told TOI. The EC has also roped in many celebrities, includ ing actors Karthi and Suriya, cricketers Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, and squash champion Dipika Pallikal, to spread awareness among young voters. “We have planned two election awareness videos themed `Know Your constituency' with the child (Preethi). The videos will be filmed in Chennai on Saturday and uploaded on social media and YouTube within two days,“ said Cheyyar subcollector Dr T Prabhu Shankar, returning officer of the constituency .
Preethi, daughter of a farm worker, was the cynosure of all eyes at the `Vaarungal Vakkalippom' programme at Arignar Anna Government Arts College. While the college students in the hall failed to list out the number of constituencies, Preethi reeled out even their names in a jiffy , to a thunderous applause. She then stepped down saying “ Anna and Akka (brothers and sisters), all of you please vote.“
The sub-collector gave away a cash award of `2,100 to the girl.
Preethi's talent had been spotted by Prabhu during her school's annual day on March 4, when he was the chief guest. “I wanted to tap her talent and create a positive impact among voters,“ he said.
Her mother Lalitha said she was thrilled. “I was out of words when I heard that my daughter was appreciated by the officials and made the election ambassador.“
Preethi, on her part, said she was excited to list out the names of the constituencies in front of a large gathering. “My teacher Roosia taught me everything.“
Panchayat president J Venkatesan and headmaster N Palani said Preethi had brought laurels to the school and the village. “I got the list of constituencies in a WhatsApp group. I decided to teach it to Preethi and wanted her to recite it in the annual day programme. She memorised the constituencies' names within 10 days,“ said Roosia.
Venkatesan hoped Preethi would inspire the village, which has around 1,700 voters, to achieve 100% voting.