Jallikattu protest: TN policemen who torched vehicle, hut identified

Chennai: Senior cops disclosed that the police personnel who were seen setting fire to an autorickshaw and an abandoned toilet in a video have been identified and that they will face action.

Additional Commissioners S.N. Seshasai (Headquarter) and K. Shankar (L&O — South), during a press conference, assured that action will be taken on the errant cops.

Asked about the torching of vehicles by cops, the top cops maintained that they were in possession of only two videos. “We have got the two videos examined. We would reveal the action taken on the same on Monday,” they said.

In a late evening press conference on Saturday, city police screened over 35 videos showing atrocities committed by the rioters on January 23 during the violence-filled end to the Jallikattu protest.

The screening featured a video of children and women making a cocktail from chilli powder and packing it in sachets. The group was said to be arming themselves on Sunguvar Street, a by-lane leading to Marina, to attack cops on a day in which large-scale violence was unleashed in the city.

They also said that they would investigate other video clips of cops resorting to violence in the city and suggested that media persons may share the same with them.

On the issue of using slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden’s image, the cops maintained that the picture was taken only during the Marina protest. TADA J. Abdul Rahim had earlier cleared the air over the picture to have been taken during a protest march carried out by a faction of Indian National Party in December last. When confronted with this, the cops dismissed the claims of Abdul Rahim besides claiming that they had already identified the person riding the vehicle and would arrest them.

Both the officials also refused to name the rabid fringe groups to whom they attributed the orchestrating of violence. The press meet came to an abrupt end when the media persons began raking up the issue of cops attacking media persons despite being aware of the media crew. Both the senior police officers suggested that media persons prefer a complaint and left the hall.

50 persons injured in Tiruchy jallikattu
At least 50 persons, most of them bull-tamers, were injured, one of them critically, in a jallikattu event held at Karungkulam village near Tiruchy on Sunday.
Official sources said that over 400 bulls and hundreds of bull-tamers from Tiruchy and adjoining districts took part in the event.

A group of general physicians checked the health condition of the bull-tamers, while a veterinary doctors’ team checked the bulls and then allowed the bull-tamers and the bulls into the ground where jallikattu took place.

A strong police team led by Tiruchy SP, Senthilkumar provided elaborate security arrangements. All the injured persons were admitted to Government and private hospitals at Manaparai. The condition of Arokiasamy (19) of Manjampatti who was admitted to Government hospital Manaparai was critical, police said.