In a first-of-its-kind operation in recent times, the Tamil Nadu police had taken a major leap towards cleansing the rowdies across the state and curbing the dreadful uptick of crime rate. The state law enforcement agency had unfolded a mega operation for two days during which the police officials had stormed the residences of rowdies, arrested them and seized a pile of weapons and illegal goods. In what has become a significant experiment, the police had also displayed that the hooligans are under tight watch. 

The mega operation was done with the codename of "Operation Disarm" and it was architected by Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) Sylendra Babu. It was carried out by a special police team constituted by Sylendra Babu and every step of the raid had happened under the watch of the DGP. The raids across the state were conducted on Friday and Saturday and continued till Sunday morning. In two days of raids, the Tamil Nadu police had arrested 2500 rowdies across the state and seized more than 900 weapons, including three firearms. 

According to reports, the major factor behind this mega operation was the four back-to-back beheading events that recently took place in Dindigul and Tirunelveli districts. These shocking crimes had happened as the sequel of the hostility driven by the caste and victims include a 70-year-old woman, whose head was beheaded in broad daylight in Dindigul. Following the incidents, DGP Sylendra Babu had held high-level meetings with the senior police officers in Madurai and Tirunelveli and issued directions to probe all murder cases including those that were pending over ten years. 

He also had directed the police officers to conduct raids at the residences and premises linked to the rowdies in these districts and the cops were also ordered to carry out routine checks and arrest the people who may out conduct retaliatory attacks. Sylendra Babu has also asked to strengthen the night patrolling to curb any unlawful activities. The reports say that Chief Minister MK Stalin has consented to the formation of two special teams of police exclusively to Chennai to take action against rowdies who are threatening the public lives. 

Last Friday, while addressing the media, Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal said that Operation Disarm led to the arrest of 57 history-sheeters and 13 others who were involved in different criminal cases. All of them have been remanded under custody, from a list of 6,000 known rowdies out of which 717 were intercepted and questioned. Besides these arrests, the police had also seized twenty weapons. The police had signalled that such operations would continue in the future as Sylendra Babu has been overhauling the measures to foil the rise of rowdies by intensifying policing and keeping the notorious faces under watch. 

The four beheadings in ten days had levied more criticisms to the police department. However, denying the criticisms that caste killings have returned, Sylendra Babu has affirmed that the police would handle criminals with an iron hand. While addressing the reporters, he said, "All those even remotely involved in the recent murders in Dindigul and Tirunelveli districts have been arrested. Some of them had surrendered on their own. Police vigil has been tightened to ensure there are no more retaliatory murders." The reports further say that the police had questioned over 16,000 people in two days and a total of 2,512 rowdies were arrested.