Hardly a week after the fishermen from Veerampattinam and Vampakeerapalayam agreed not to resort to any violence at a peace meeting held here, their promises fell apart on Monday after they clashed again. Police, who initially fired tear gas to disperse the clashing groups, later opened six rounds of fire in the air to bring the situation under control.
According to the police, Monday’s clash was a sequel to the clashes between the same groups last week following the use of a particular fishing net that was objected to by some persons.
Superintendent of Police S Ramaraj said a fisherman from Vampakeeraplayam assaulted a member of the rival group near the market on Monday.
Following this, fishermen from Veerampattinam came to Vampakeeraplayam area on boats and pelted stones. The other group too congregated at the shore and retaliated.
On receiving information, police personnel, led by SPs Ramaraj, Deivasigamani and inspectors rushed to the spot. They tried to deter them by firing four rounds of tear gas shells. When the officials felt that situation would go out of control, police fired six rounds in the air to disperse the crowd. Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) Parvez Ahmed said nobody was injured in the incident.
All the Superintendents of Police and inspectors were asked to rush to the areas in order to diffuse the tension and to prevent clashes spreading to other areas, said a source.
SSP Parvez Ahmed told Express that the area is tense, but things are under control. He added that additional police personnel have been deployed to thwart the trouble makers.
It may be recalled that police had fired five rounds in the air following clashes between the same groups last week.
A peace meeting was held in which 30 representatives from both the groups from Veerampattinam and Vampakeerapalayam participated.