TN police assure maximum protection for PBD

The Tamil Nadu police would ensure 'maximum protection' for the three-day Pravasi Bharati Divas, the annual congregation of Non-Resident Indians, in the city in the wake of the e-mail threat warning of possible terror strikes during the high-profile event.

"We have ensured maximum protection," Suburban Police Commissioner S R Jangid told reporters after reviewing the security measures at the Chennai Convention Centre, the venue of the event, to be organised from January 8.

Entry into the centre had already been restricted and employees were being issued special passes, he said, adding that lodges and hotels in the vicinity of the centre were being thoroughly checked by the police.

President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, various union ministers and chief mMinisters of several states, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Gujarat, are scheduled to attend the event.

The e-mail, purportedly sent by the Indian Mujahideen terror group and received at the CII office in Delhi, had said that the group was 'keeping an eye' on the developments related to the PBD.

The event was shifted from Delhi to Chennai due to security concerns.