Bengaluru: In an unfortunate incident, two vehicles carrying firecrackers, which were to be burst when All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader V.K. Sasikala reaches Chennai, caught fire in Tamil Nadu  (TN) this morning.

The crackers exploded unexpectedly on the road near the Krishnagiri Tollgate area. However, no one was injured in the incident.

Sasikala’s convoy touched down on the Karnataka-TN border arch of Zuzuvadi and rolled into TN to the beats of ‘Chenda Melas,’ tune of ‘Nadaswaras’ and with ‘Poorna Kumbas’ as she returned after serving a 4-year prison term.

The heavy Police deployment and their many injunctions forbidding the use of the AIADMK party flags paled in the face of a high-octane cadre, who proudly flaunted the AIADMK flags letting them flutter high up in the air.

The inter-State border witnessed a happy commingling of the flags of the AIADMK and the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), blurring the lines between the two parties, as Police grappled to contain the crowd. Cadre also arrived with firecrackers, some of which were seized by Cops.

Former Higher Education Minister P. Palaniappan, who was one of the first persons to pledge loyalty to Sasikala and her nephew and AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran, was also at the border to receive Sasikala.

Amid video visuals of Sasikala leaving Bengaluru in a vehicle bearing the AIADMK flag, West Zone Police at the border was poised to issue a notice to her convoy for the removal of the flag as soon as it reached the border. 

At Zuzuvadi, tense moments prevailed, when Cops stopped Sasikala’s vehicle and demanded that she collect the notice for violating Police order forbidding the use of AIADMK flag. The notice was, however, not accepted by Sasikala’s legal team citing sub-judice.