Anti-Sterlite protest turns violent in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin, one killed

TUTICORIN: A man aged around 50-year-old was reportedly killed in the violence that erupted near the Tuticorin district collectorate on Tuesday when anti-Sterlite protesters defied a ban order under Section 144 of the CrPC and continued their protest march.


The protesters are demanding closure of the Sterlite Copper Smelter located near the town. The person killed in the violence has been identified as Tamilarasan who was associated with an organisation called Puratchikara Ilaignar Munnani.

Residents of Tuticorin town have been demanding closure of the Sterlite plant for the past 100 days, and had announced they would take out a march to the Tuticorin District Collectorate on Tuesday, and meet the collector N Venkatesh. The protesting public gathered for a black flag protest near the Church of the Lady of Snow in Tuticorin, while another group started to march from Madathur village.

Suddenly, the march turned violent, when police used force to hold them back. This resulted in protestors pelting police with stones. Police first resorted to lathi charge and then fired teargas shells along the route to the collectorate and inside the premises, the destination of the protest march. Vehicles on the route of the march were set on fire during the protest. Employees of the collector’s office were evacuated as the protests intensified.

Many buildings were damaged and vehicles set on fire, resulting in the entire town of Tuticorin being engulfed in thick black smoke.

As the situation went out of control, more than 2,000 police personnel from the southern districts of Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Theni, Dindigul were deployed to Tuticorin.