Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

66 injured in Alanganallur `jallikattu'

T. Saravanan

The event was conducted in an organised manner as it was under the scanner this year

THEY STOOP TO CONQUER: A bull steering clear of contestants at Alanganallur near Madurai on Wednesday. — PHOTO: S. JAMES

MADURAI: As many as 66 persons were hurt in the `jallikattu' organised amidst tight security at Alanganallur near here on Wednesday as part of Pongal celebrations. Six of them were referred to the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) for treatment.

Right from registering bulls and contestants to streamlining galleries meant for spectators, the event was conducted in an organised manner, as it was under the scanner this time with a batch of petitions relating to the event pending before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.

Of the 587 bulls registered for the event, 545 were from Tiruchi, Cumbum, Theni, Sivaganga, Valasai, Rajakkoor, Muduvarpatti, Arittapatti, Varichiyur, Melur, Kidaripatti and Vadipatti.

As many as 527 of the 600 registered contestants turned up.

A special medical team was present to check the bulls and the players.

The Collector, T. Udhayachandran, who was present at the venue monitoring the proceedings, said three contestants and seven bulls were disqualified for use of banned substances.

Medical teams with ambulances from GRH and private hospitals were present to provide first aid to the injured.

The GRH also made special arrangements to step in at the time of need with blood bank.

The district administration, with the help of the police, regulated the crowd and the contestants, who were given uniforms to distinguish them from the rest of the crowd.

More than 1000 police personnel were deployed for the event.

Two-tier barricades were erected to prevent spectators from entering the arena.

The Minister for Adi Dravidar Welfare, A. Tamilarasi, the Member of Parliament, P. Mohan, the MLA P. Moorthy, top police officials including Inspector General of Police (South Zone), Sanjeev Kumar, the Commissioner of Police, M. Chidambarasamy, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, N. Chenbaharaman, and the Superintendent of Police, T.S. Anbu, were present.

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