City police unsure about Republic-Day parade

Top police sources told DTNext that they are still unsure about the fate of the parade as the protest against the ban on jallikattu continues without any speedy solution in sight. Police were forced to shift their parade rehearsals to the Secretariat vicinity after protesters took over Kamarajar Salai and Marina. 

The vehicles have been kept ready at the Government Education Department land on Kamarajar Salai and the works are already on for erecting floats on these vehicles. But the police do not know how to take these vehicles out from the ground, if the protests continue. 

“We do not know what we are going to do. If the protest continues till Republic Day, there will not be any scope of conducting the parade at Kamarajar Salai. We need to clear the place at least 48 hours ahead of the parade to make arrangements,” a senior police official said. 

A decision in this regard could be arrived only after knowing the fate of the protest and there would be clarity by Monday, the official added. Meanwhile, City Police Commissioner S George had called all his senior colleagues and held a meeting discussing the various possibilities and also reviewed the present situation.