Madurai: For the second time this month, the Madurai airport virtually turned into a carnival ground as more than 3,000 people swarmed the venue with a band of musicians to receive Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer M.K. Stalin on Friday evening. Caught in the multitude, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) soldier, part of the escort team, lost a magazine loaded with 30 bullets from his AK47 rifle.
Mr. Stalin arrived here from Chennai at 6.10 p.m. for attending party functions scheduled until Sunday. He was given a reception at the arrival gate of the new terminal building with different troupes dancing to the beats of Chenda Melam and local folk drums.
His security guards comprising five CRPF soldiers and local policemen had a tough time controlling the crowd. When Mr. Stalin was about to board the van, John Kennedy, one of the five soldiers, reported that a fully loaded magazine from his AK47 rifle was missing. Taken aback, his other colleagues joined him in a frantic search.
It took nearly an hour for the crowd to disperse and it was only after that the five CRPF personnel, who stayed back in the airport after requesting the local police to take care of Mr. Stalin’s security, were able to conduct a thorough search. But it was too late by then as the magazine remained untraceable with the local policemen suspecting that it could have been taken away by someone in the crowd.
29/06/13 Mohamed Imranullah. S/The Hindu
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Mr. Stalin arrived here from Chennai at 6.10 p.m. for attending party functions scheduled until Sunday. He was given a reception at the arrival gate of the new terminal building with different troupes dancing to the beats of Chenda Melam and local folk drums.
His security guards comprising five CRPF soldiers and local policemen had a tough time controlling the crowd. When Mr. Stalin was about to board the van, John Kennedy, one of the five soldiers, reported that a fully loaded magazine from his AK47 rifle was missing. Taken aback, his other colleagues joined him in a frantic search.
It took nearly an hour for the crowd to disperse and it was only after that the five CRPF personnel, who stayed back in the airport after requesting the local police to take care of Mr. Stalin’s security, were able to conduct a thorough search. But it was too late by then as the magazine remained untraceable with the local policemen suspecting that it could have been taken away by someone in the crowd.
29/06/13 Mohamed Imranullah. S/The Hindu
