1 more dies in police firing

Tuticorin: A man was killed in fresh police firing on anti-Sterlite plant agitators on Wednesday, while some others were injured in clashes with security personnel in Tamil Nadu'’ Tuticorin town, a day after 10 people lost their lives in police action, officials said.

Enraged over Tuesday’s killings, protesters took to streets and showered stones and brickbats at police, prompting security personnel to open fire at Anna Nagar, they said. The body of the man killed in firing, and those injured have been rushed to a government hospital.

The police, however, said the protestors did not disperse despite repeated warnings and pelted stones at the police personnel on 'bandobust' (vigil) duty at a locality. They said the protestors resorted to violence, leading to the police firing.

Two police vehicles were torched and people were baton-charged in a hospital premises. Two police buses parked in a residential neighbourhood were set on fire by unidentified persons.

Some people who allegedly tried to forcibly enter the general hospital premises were baton-charged, the police said. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has constituted an inquiry commission to look into the matter. The Commission of Inquiry, headed by Aruna Jagadeesan a retired judge of the Madras High Court, will probe the violence.