As many as 72 tamers were injured when around 600 of them tried to hold on to the humps of 746 bulls that ran through the vadivasal of the jallikattu held at Chettipalayam in Coimbatore on Sunday. Nearly 50,000 spectators witnessed the sport, held for the second consecutive year at Chettipalayam. The police said that no tamers were seriously injured.
Karthik from Madurai who was adjudged as the best tamer left the venue with prizes, including a car. Viji from Madurai, owner of the best bull, was also awarded a car among other prizes.
S.P. Velumani, Minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development, inaugurated the jallikattu at 8 a.m. and read out the pledge for participants of the sport. One-minute silence was observed for the CRPF soldiers who were killed in the Pulwama terrorist attack.
Mr. Velumani said that the first jallikattu in Coimbatore was held at VOC grounds in 1978.
The next one was held in 2018, after a gap of four decades. He said that the number of bulls increased from 450 in 2018 to 750 this year. The Minister presented gold coins to tamers who managed to grab on to the bulls and owners of the bulls which did not allow any tamer to catch them.
Bulls of Mr. Velumani, Minister for Health Family Welfare C. Vijayabaskar and AMMK leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran were among those that ran through the vadivasal. Mr. Vijayabaskar's bull ‘Chinnakomban’ turned second runner-up for the best bull.
The tamers, who took part in the jallikattu were largely from Madurai, Theni, Dindigul and Pudukottai districts.
The bulls and tamers were allowed to take part in the sport after medical examination.
An official from the Animal Welfare Board of India was present at the event.
First and second runners-up for the best tamer and the best bull category were awarded two-wheelers as prize.
Meanwhile, the R.S. Puram police have booked two aides of social activist ‘Traffic’ Ramaswamy for allegedly preventing them from discharging their duty.
The police said that Mr. Ramaswamy had staged a sit-in at R.S. Puram on Saturday demanding the removal of some flex boards erected in view of the jallikattu.
According to the police, Mr. Ramaswamy was shifted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital due to health reasons.