Tiruppur
A total of 64 persons, including bull tamers, owners and spectators, were injured in the fourth annual jallikattu held at Alagumalai village in Tiruppur district on Sunday, which saw the participation of 749 bulls and 555 tamers from across the State.
According to officials from Health Department, 23 tamers, 32 bull owners and nine spectators reported various injuries.
A total of 18 persons suffered major injuries such as fractures and deep cut wounds and the rest complained of minor cut injuries. They were referred to Tiruppur Government Medical College Hospital for further treatment. One of them, a tamer whose left ring finger was severed, was referred to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for further treatment, the officials said.
Most of the injuries, particularly those of bull owners and spectators, occurred at the collection point where the bulls enter after running through the arena, the officials noted. Among the two medical teams present at the venue, the one from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine screened the tamers prior to entering the arena and the team from Directorate of Medical and Rural Health Services treated the injured persons.
On Sunday morning, Minister for Animal Husbandry Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan flagged off the event in the presence of District Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan and MLAs Karaipudur A. Natarajan (Palladam) and U. Thaniyarasu (Kangeyam).
As the sport drew to a close, a tamer from Natham named Karthik was declared to have won the first prize for taming 12 bulls. Three tamers from Batlagundu, Sivaganga and Madurai respectively won the second prize for taming six bulls each, according to officials.
The jallikattu was organised by the district administration in association with Alagumalai Jallikattu Bulls Welfare Association. The winners received two-wheelers and jewellery as prizes, the officials added. As per the COVID-19 safety protocol, all tamers were allowed for jallikattu only after they submitted COVID-19 negative certificates.
Police said that nearly 15,000 spectators were present at the gallery. Around 1,400 police personnel were deployed at the venue as part of the security arrangements and no untoward incidents were reported, the sources added.