KRISHNAGIRI: A day after a video clip of Krishnagiri Superintendent of Police Saroj Kumar Thakur pushing a youth during the violence in Gopachandram emerged, he clarified that he tried to restrain the person from misbehaving with a woman.
Addressing media persons on Friday, Thakur said, "Hundreds of people including those from neighbouring states, had arrived to witness the bull run. Some of them misbehaved with women and provoked and verbally abused local residents. Even a woman police officer was not spared. I tried to restrain an unruly person. The video clip in question does not give the full picture.”
“After ensuring the safety of women, we tried to secure the group, but they tried to assault us and escape. However, we overpowered them. One of the suspects is seen in the video. He tried to attack police and I had to push him away to ensure the safety of fellow officers,” Thakur added.
Commenting on the probe, he said, “We have yet to identify the people responsible for the violence. We are using video and photographic evidence to identify the rioters.”
The SP added that organizers did not follow protocol for holding such events. Organisers must inform local police and submit necessary documents in advance, but this was not done in Gopachandram. The organizers provided the documents late leading to the problems. Also, people from outside Tamil Nadu cannot participate in such events here. In future we would filter participants and keep away people from other states, he said.
Meanwhile, another video clip of some youths rescuing a police officer from rioters went viral on Friday. The clip shows a police officer trapped by a rioter pelting stones at him. However, some youths formed a human shield and took him to safety.