Thousands throng Alagumalai jallikattu, 50 injured

More than 50 persons were injured in the jallikattu event organised at Alagumalai in Tirupur district on Sunday.

As many as 600 persons from various districts across Tamil Nadu participated in the sport, being held for the fourth consecutive year and they tried to tame around 749 bulls that were let into the arena.

Trained bulls from Tirupur, Erode, Coimbatore, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchy, Pudukkottai, Sivaganga, Madurai and Dindugul districts kept the show lively. The bull of Alagumalai Murugan Temple was released into the arena in the morning, following which the bull of Animal Husbandry Minister ‘Udumalai’ K Radhakrishnan came first.

He inaugurated the jallikattu in the presence of District Collector K Vijayakarthikeyan, MLAs A Natarajan, U Thaniyarasu and senior police officials.

Touted to be one of the biggest bull taming events being organised in this part of the region, thousands of people poured in to watch jallikattu resulting in heavy crowding in the gallery area. As the crowd began to swell, many were left without space and police had a tough time regulating the enthusiastic spectators.

Officials said that COVID-19 precautions were followed by ensuring that the participants in the bull taming sport were free from infection. Other safety measures were taken up including a double barricaded jallikattu arena to ensure the safety of spectators.

A bull owned by Prem from Alanganallur and the bull of RV Ranga from Jallikattu Peravai won a special prize of Rs 1 lakh each for their spectacular play. The best tamers were also rewarded with cash and valuables.