Chennai: Chaos and violence ruled parts of Chennai as well as other places in Tamil Nadu, as police cleared jallikattu protesters who refused to budge leading to high drama on the sands of the Marina. While some protesters threatened to enter the sea, anti-social elements seemed to take over to unleash large scale violence in the area, burning police vehicles and ransacking a police station and throwing petrol bombs.
The police fought pitched battles with angry mobs on the by-lanes leading to the Marina Beach even as fishermen seemed to have helped the protesters in challenging the police. At least 130 people, including 100 policemen, were injured just in Chennai city with the police claiming 35 of their colleagues had suffered serious injuries.
Of the 35, 10 suffered head injuries, the police said Across the state, police began swooping on the agitators from 6.30 am after their requests to call off the protest since the demands of students had been met went unheeded. In some places like Tirunelveli, protesters called off their agitation on their own, but in venues like Marina Beach, VOC Grounds in Coimbatore and Tamukkam Grounds in Madurai, police used force to clear the protesters and it took the whole day for them to vacate them.
