One more person died in police firing on Wednesday, a day after the anti-Sterlite agitation claimed 10 lives at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu. The protesters are demanding closure of the Vedanta group’s Sterlite Copper plant over pollution concerns.
With agitators back again on Wednesday, the police opened fire to contain violence resulting into the death of one person identified as Kaliappan.
Taking cognisance of the large-scale violence, the National Human Rights Commission issued notices to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police, asking them to submit a detailed report in two weeks, while the Madras High Court stayed the proposed expansion of the Sterlite unit.
In the line of Opposition fire over the police firing, the State Government constituted a Commission of Inquiry headed by retired Madras High Court judge Aruna Jagadeesan.
“The panel will cover the law and order incidents following the siege of the District Collectorate on May 22 by thousands of persons violating prohibitory orders,” an official release said in Chennai.
The Union Home Ministry has, meanwhile, sought a report from the Tamil Nadu Government on the circumstances leading to the police firing on protesters demanding the closure of the copper plant, which they claim had polluted groundwater in the area, official sources said in New Delhi.
Enraged over the Tuesday killings in the police firing, protesters took to streets on Wednesday morning, attacking police with stones, setting two Government vehicles on fire, and trying to storm into a hospital where injured are admitted, prompting security personnel to baton-charge them and open fire, officials said.
Several people, including police personnel, were injured in clashes.
There are reports of fake video messages being circulated to fan the violence.
One of the video messages received by this correspondent featured a woman police officer who was sobbing and wailing for firing at the ‘innocent demonstrators’ on Tuesday.
“It was in violation of all rules that we were ordered to fire at the protesters. No warnings were issued which are mandatory while resorting to firing. I am extremely sorry for obeying the orders,” the woman inspector whose identity has been concealed was seen speaking to the camera. later, the police informed that it was a fake video as there were no women cops around when firing was resorted to.
Aravindan Neelakantan, eminent writer, who has been closely following the Thoothukudi incidents from Ground Zero asked the Union Government to order a comprehensive probe into the whole incident. “Those who are shouting against Sterlite are the same ones who were in the payroll of the Sterlite management. The ole of various Tamil chauvinist groups and different sects of a prominent minority community, especially their leaders should be scrutinised. These people are conditioning Tamil Nadu to be a launching pad of a major secessionist movement,” said the author.