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Police open fire to chase away mob

MADURAI: A mob burnt a police jeep and motorbikes, injured policemen and damaged buses and other vehicles on the Madurai-Tuticorin highway at Valayankulam near here on Tuesday.

An Inspector of Police fired one round from his service revolver to chase away the violent group.

Hundreds of caste Hindus blocked the highway at three places — Valayankulam, Eliyarpatti and Parapaththi — protesting against an act of ‘insult’ to ‘Perumpidagu Muththarayar.’ This act is seen as a reprisal to the attack on two houses belonging to oppressed castes following a petty quarrel at a tea shop a couple of days ago.

Though the police diverted all the vehicles through the Virudhunagar highway, scores of vehicles were stranded for more than five hours on the Tuticorin highway between the three centres of protest. Only a handful of policemen were present at these places as a huge posse of them was deployed at Uthapuram, where a wall dividing people belonging two castes was being demolished.

Revenue Divisional Officer, S. Jayaraj, held talks with leaders of the protesting group and promised legal action. However, a section of the agitators turned violent and started throwing stones at vehicles and the police. An inspector, a woman Sub-inspector and four constables were injured. The official vehicle of a Tahsildar, three police vehicles and many two-wheelers were damaged.

Suddenly, somebody poured a can of kerosene on a police jeep and set it on fire leading to an Inspector opening fire. The jeep was gutted. Two more motorbikes were burnt. Deputy Inspector General of Police, Jayanth Muralisaid that protestors at Parapaththi did not allow a two-wheeler carrying a bleeding accident victim to proceed to Madurai. The stranded passengers, who first pleaded with the agitators, later indulged in fisticuffs. This resulted in stone throwing that spread to two other places.

The striking force passed through Valayampatti, Valayankulam, Eliyarpatti and then reached Parapaththi and chased them away. However, taking advantage of the skeletal police strength some anti-social elements went on the rampage at Valayankulam, he said.

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