Alanganallur Jallikattu: At least 74 persons injured, 23 admitted

Chennai (Tamil Nadu),[India] Feb 10 (ANI): At least 74 persons were injured while carrying out the bull-taming sport Jallikattu in Alanganallur, Madurai. Out of the 74 injured people, 23 have been sent to the hospital for treatment, where the condition of a 70-year old spectator is said to be critical. Madurai's famous Jallikattu arena Palamedu hosted the bull-taming sport after two years after a ban on the sport was lifted in January. According to reports, a total of 850 bulls were registered for the sport that held at Palamedu. On February 5, at least 37 bull tamers were injured in Madurai's Avanipuram during Jallikattu. Jallikattu is usually held during the harvest festival of Pongal in mid-January, but could not be organised in the past three years in view of the ban on the sport. Amid continuing protests over the ban on Jallikattu across the state, the Tamil Nadu Assembly had on January 23 unanimously passed an amendment bill, clearing the path for conducting Jallikattu without any hindrance. With the government promulgating an ordinance and subsequently getting a Bill passed in the state assembly allowing Jallikattu, the event is being held in several parts of the state in the past few days. The government's intervention came after a week-long protest largely by youths, including students, in the Marina Beach in Chennai, and elsewhere in the state. (ANI)