3 more deaths trigger tension in madurai

The toll in the petrol bomb attack on a group of persons returning fr­om Pasumpon village af­t­er paying tribute to Mu­­thuramalinga Thev­ar du­ring his jayanthi rose to six with three more yo­uth succumbing to bu­rn injuries on Tuesday.

As news of their death spread, tension gripped pa­rts of Madurai, Siv­a­g­angai, Ramanath­apur­am­ and Virudhunagar di­­s­tricts. Incidents of st­one pelting were rep­o­r­t­ed and bus services, es­p­e­cially covering Ma­d­u­r­ai, Paramakudi, Ra­m­a­n­a­­thapuram and Ma­­n­a­m­a­durai, were su­­s­pended. Police reso­r­ted to lathic­h­arge at le­ast thrice wh­en the bo­dies were taken to their native village Puliangulam.

Failing to respond to tr­eatment, Ranjith, 24, Je­yasingh Raja, 19, and Vi­shnupriyan, 20, died one af­ter another at a priv­a­te hospital in Ma­d­u­­r­­ai. About 20 persons suf­fered inj­u­r­ies when an unidentif­i­ed gang hur­l­ed petrol bo­m­bs at the ve­hicle in which they were returning, near Chinthamani, on Octo­b­er 30. n P6