At least 10 persons were killed at Thoothukudi district (600 km south of Chennai) in Tamil Nadu as police resorted to firing to quell a marauding crowd which tried to set afire the district collectorate on Tuesday. More than hundred people and policemen were injured in the melee.
The crowd of about a lakh marched towards the civil station despite prohibitory orders and tried to lay siege to the collectorate as part of its 100-day agitation demanding the closure of Sterlite Copper ltd, a unit of the Vedanta Group. All the villagers near the SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) estate were on agitation for the last 100 days demanding the closure of the unit as they alleged that the copper smelting plant of the company had been polluting the entire area with toxic gases and effluents.
“More than hundred persons have been afflicted with cancer and kidney-related diseases in the area and many have succumbed to the pollution caused by the unit,” Thyagarajan, a local resident, told The Pioneer over telephone from Thoothukudi.
The company management was in a denial mode and had claimed that everything associated with the company was as per rules and norms set up by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.
Tuesday’s untoward incidents were not unexpected as the district administration had deployed 2,500 police personnel on Monday itself to control Tuesday’s proposed protest by the Anti-Sterlite Movement.
But the crowd that had marched towards the collectorate outnumbered the police which had to make a quick retreat from the scene as the mob turned violent. More than 20 four-wheelers were set on fire by the mob and they pelted stones and petrol bombs at the collectorate buildings.
Though the police returned with more force and resorted to lathicharge, the protesters were not in a mood to disperse and continued with the violence. The police resorted to bursting of teargas shells but it too failed to disperse the crowd and then firing took place.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami defended the police action saying that the cops resorted to firing only because the protests had turned violent. He further ordered a retired judge to probe the incident. He also ordered a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those who were killed in the firing. A retired judge would hold a probe into the whole affair, said the Chief Minister.
TK Rajendran, State police chief, told reporters by the evening that peace has been restored in the locality and situation is under control. The AIADMK Government which is observing its second anniversary in office on Wednesday suffered a setback with Tuesday’s violence.