Tamil Nadu's coastal city Tuticorin has been witnessing violence since Tuesday. (PTI Photo)
One more person, who was injured in police firing during anti-Sterlite protests in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) on Tuesday, died on Thursday taking the death toll to 13. Over 70 people undergoing treatment at a local hospital in the coastal Tamil Nadu city which has witnessed massive violence over the past couple of days.
While there has been no report of fresh violence in Thoothukudi, the administration has suspended internet service in the city and adjoining districts of Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari for five days to prevent spread of rumours through social media and help bring public tranquility.
The Tamil Nadu government had on Wednesday, May 23, transferred Tuticorin District Collector and Superintendent of PoliceTuticorin District Collector N Venkatesh has been transferred and Tirunelveli District collector, Sandeep Nanduri has been appointed in his place, an official release said.
Latest updates:
8:45 am: Death toll in Tuesday, May 22, police firing during anti-Sterlite protests in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi touches 13. Over 70 injured in the violence still in hospital.
8:50 am: Internet services suspended in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi to prevent rumour mongering as tension prevails in the region.
After Tuesday's violence in which 11 people were killed in police firing, Tamil Nadu's Tuticorintown was on the boil again on Wednesday, with a man shot dead in police firing following fresh clashes between security personnel and locals demanding closure of a copper factory over pollution concerns.
The Union Home Ministry has sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government on the circumstances leading to police firing on protesters demanding the closure of Vedanta group's Sterlite Copper plant, which they claim had polluted ground water in the area.
Watch: Tuticorin on the boil after police firing