Normalcy has been restored in Thoothukudi, says District Collector

On May 23, Toothkudi (Tuticorin)'s Superintendent of Police, Thiru P Mahendran, and then Collector, N Venkatesh, were transferred.

After over a week of violence in Thoothukudi which claimed 13 lives, District Collector Sandeep Nanduri on Saturday said that the situation is back to normal. He, however, said some incidents have been being reported from the rural areas, adding that the administration is reviewing the situation.

"Normalcy has been restored in the city and district. Haven't noticed any unusual incident in the city in last 24 hrs," Nanduri told news agency ANI.

On May 23, Toothukudi (Tuticorin)'s Superintendent of Police, Thiru P Mahendran, and then Collector, N Venkatesh, were transferred over the killing of people in police firing during the anti-Sterlite protest in the city.

The residents of Thoothukudi were demanding the closure of the Sterlite Copper Smelter for the past 100 days and had decided to take out a march before the Tuticorin District Collectorate on Tuesday. The protest took a violent turn after which the police resorted to firing to control the mob.

According to reports, the law and order situation in Tuticorin is fast returning to normal even as miscreants torched a state government bus after intercepting it in a bridge on Friday evening. Three passengers suffered injuries in the incidents and were taken to the hospital.

Sterlite Copper, which currently operates a 400,000-tonne per annum unit in the city, maintained it has received necessary permits and has not violated any norms. Police had earlier said nearly 5,000 protesters had gathered near a local church and insisted on taking out a rally to the district collectorate after they were denied permission to march to the copper smelter plant.

Thirteen people were killed in police firing earlier this week in Thoothukudi and over 80 people were injured. 16 people had to undergo critical operations. The victims were part of the group of protesters who were demanding permanent closure of the Vedanta-owned Sterlite copper plant.