National Human Rights Commission issues a notice to the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and Director general of police over the police firing during the anti-Sterlite protest in Thoothukudi that claimed 11 lives, seeks report within two weeks.


The Tamil Nadu government today appointed a one-person Commission of Inquiry headed by a retired judge of the Madras High Court to probe the violence at Tuticorin in which 10 people were killed. The toll has gone up to 10, (eight men, two women).


The inquiry will cover the "law and order incidents following the siege of the District Collectorate by thousands of persons violating prohibitory orders," an official release said.


Appointing retired Judge Aruna Jagadeesan for the task, the government said she would submit her report to the government. However, the time-frame for submitting the report has not been specified.


Congress president Rahul Gandhi termed the deaths a brutal example of state-sponsored terrorism. He said people were murdered in Tuticorin for protesting against injustice.

The gunning down by the police of 9 people in the Sterlite protest in Tamil Nadu is a brutal example of state sponsored terrorism. These citizens were murdered for protesting against injustice. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these martyrs and the injured, Gandhi said on Twitter.

Hurling stones and setting government vehicles and public property on fire, the agitators went on the rampage in the town, about 600 km from Tamil Nadu capital Chennai. PTI