NAGERCOIL: A sub-inspector and three police personnel were injured in a reported clash between police and a group of villagers at Mulloorthurai coastal village near Puthukadai. According to the villagers, a police patrol party from Puthukadai station was doing the rounds at Mulloorthurai on Saturday evening to ensure adherence to the lockdown curbs. When the police personnel saw a youth standing in front of a shop, they beat him up, the villagers alleged.
Sources from the village said those who witnessed the scuffle demanded that the police state why the youth was assaulted. Meanwhile, another team of police personnel arrived at the scene and allegedly lathi-charged the villagers, some of whom reportedly pelted stones at the police.
However, the police refuted the allegations. According them, a group of youth was playing cricket in the village despite repeated warnings from the police, but the matter was solved after a village elder intervened. A while later, a mob pelted stones at the police personnel and their vehicles, they said. Also, the police refuted allegations of their damaging household articles during the search that night. The police booked 33 individuals.