Over 35 people, including many spectators, were injured in jallikattu at Karungulam village in the district on Sunday. This was the first officially permitted jallikattu in the district since the Assembly passed a Bill for the conduct of the sport.
One of the spectators, C. Balasundaram (30) of Illupur taluk in Pudukottai district, sustained grievous injuries and was admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchi.
Official sources said eight others were admitted to government and private hospitals at Manapparai as in-patients.
The seven-hour-long event saw the participation of over 400 bulls brought from Tiruchi, Madurai, Sivaganga, Dindigul, Pudukottai, Theni, Perambalur and Thanjavur districts.
Held amidst heavy security, with surveillance cameras installed at various points, the event was conducted as per the customary practice on the last Sunday of January as part of the ‘Anthoniyar’ Pongal festival, in front of the St. Ignatius Church in the village.
The participating bulls were checked by a team of veterinarians to determine if they were fit.
The teams took saliva swab samples from the animals to determine whether they were given alcohol, said a senior official of the Animal Husbandry Department. Five bulls were disqualified for different reasons. Simultaneously, a little over 400 bull tamers were also subjected to medical examination by a team of doctors to ensure their physical fitness.
Police sources said 19 tamers were disqualified after they were reportedly found to have consumed alcohol.
The event organising committee had established double barricades made of wood with wire fencing along either side of the arena to prevent onlookers from entering the ground.
Collector K.S. Palanisamywas forced to stop the release of bulls on multiple occasions after some of the tamers were found to have acted against the rules and some onlookers tried to push through barricades.
The police resorted to mild force to keep spectators away from the exit point.
