Mobilenews24X7 Bureau
adurai, Jan 14: A young spectator was gored to death by a bull and 78 others,
including bull tamers, were injured during the annual “Jallikattu” event held as part
of the Pongal festivities at Avaniyapuram in this district of Tamil Nadu on Friday.
Official sources said the deceased was identified as Balamurugan (18) of Avaniyapuram.
He sustained grievous injuries when a ferocious bull unleashed from the “Vaadivasal” (a
narrow entrance through which the bulls were released one after the other into the arena)
attacked him at the bull collection point.
The bull’s horn pierced into his chest leaving in a pool of blood. He was rushed to the Government Rajaji Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.
Of the 78 injured, 17 people, who sustained multiple injuries were admitted to the GRH.
The remaining injured were treated by a medical team near the Jallikattu venue.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P.T.R.Palanivel Thiagarajan, Minister for Commercial
Taxes P.Moorthy and District collector Dr.S.Aneesh Sekhar flagged off the event.
As many as 624 bulls brought from various parts of the State and around 300 bull tamers
took part in the event.
An agile youth, Karthik hailing from Avaniyapuram was adjudged the best bull tamer and
was awarded a car on behalf of Chief Minister M.K.Stalin for his valour. He tamed 24 bulls in the event. Another youth Murugan got the second place by taming
19 bulls and was awarded a motorcycle presented by DMK youth wing secretary and Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi, MLA.
The winners were presented with LED TV sets, steel almirahs, bicycles, gold and silver
coins, house hold articles like cots, refrigerators, mixie and grinders etc.Over 1,300 police personnel were posted in and around Avaniyapuram under the direct supervision of Madurai city Commissioner of Police Prem Anand Sinha for bandobust duty.
The day-long event was held as per the COVID-19 guidelines. As per the Standard Operating Procedures, the bull tamers, owners and audience were allowed only after they presented certificates for two doses of COVID-19 vaccination and a coronavirus negative certificate to the authorities.
