The Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Association in Tiruppur has initiated an effort to mobilise youths to provide protection to aged couples living in farmhouses located away from main habitations, under the overall guidance of the Police Department.

In the absence of CCTV cameras, the police have been finding it difficult to nab the culprits involved in two cases of murder of couples living in farm houses – one in Erode earlier this month and the other in Tiruppur last November.

Across Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore districts, the police had stepped up patrolling in the vicinity of farm houses.

However, since sustaining the patrol duties is a tough proposition for the police, the farmers’ association has come forward to mobilise youths in villages to undertake the task.

The Coimbatore rural police began compiling a database of farmhouses, CCTV cameras, and watchdogs in the jurisdiction of 28 police stations in the district.

“We have taken the initiative to buttress efforts of the police to form security units at village level by deploying the local youth,” founder of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Association Easan Murugasamy said.

The situation calls for combined efforts to thwart such crimes, since the local youth will be in a better position to determine presence of strangers, he said.