PUDUKKOTTAI: Two persons from Pudukkottai district were gored to death and at least 27 others were injured in a jallikattu organised at Rappoosal village near Iluppur on Sunday after an ordinance for conducting the bull taming sport was issued in the state.
A jallikatu event organised at Rappoosal village on behalf of Arulmigu Muniyandavar temple of the village, was flagged off on Sunday by Public Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and Education Minister Pandiyarajan in the presence of District Collector S Ganesh.
A total of 168 bulls, mostly brought from Tiruchy, were part of the event in which hundreds of bull tamers displayed their skills.
At least 27 bull tamers sustained injuries in the event. Of them, S Mohan, 30 of Lakshmananpatti, was injured at his low hip and G Raja, 35 of Odukkur near Annavasal, sustained severe injuries in his left chest. Both were rushed to Iluppur GH, but Mohan succumbed to wounds and Raja, who was referred to GH, Pudukkottai, died on arrival.
The other injured persons have been identified as Chelladurai, 18, of Keelavilankudi, near Attankudi, Mariyappan, 50, of Kaladivayal, near Veeradippatti, Karuppaiyah, 29, of Kalaththupatti, Vadivel, 28, of Valaiyappatti, Natesan, 55, of Rappoosal, Kalaiselvam, 23, of Kattur, Rajkumar, 45, Pandiyan, 26, of Keelaennai, near Iluppur, Periyasamy, 30, of Kaladippatti, Masilamani, 19 of Parambur, Muruganandam, 23, of Vandhili, of Kalkandapuram, Raja, 25, of Mayandi, of Keeranur, Martien, 28, of Kottaikkaranpatti, Murugesan, 26, of Iluppur, Balu, 26, of Sengurichi, Moorthi, 24, of Kuppaththipatti, Selvam, 36, of Mangalappatti, Sankar, 25, of Vemmani, Narendran, 25, of Kattur, Duraiyan, 32, Balu, of Lakshmanapatti, Balu, 30, of Iluppur, Chinnadurai, 38, of Karappatti, Santhoshkumar, 22, of Viralimalai, Arun, 24, of Parambur, David, 22, of Malampatti, Kandhasamy, 23, of Kalingappatti near Viralimalai, Iyyappan, 22, of Thennalur and Thamizhan, 30, of Ponnamaravathi. Of these, four hail from Tiruchy district.
To maintain law and order at the venue, a huge posse of police personnel was deployed at Rappoosal and two 108 ambulances were stationed at the scene. As per the Tamil traditional calendar, jallikattu is conducted at Rappoosal village on every 29th of the Panguni month. Sunday’s event was organised after a gap of four years as the sport was banned.