Pondicherry

Feb 4 2002

Two groups of fishermen were involved a pitched battle at Veerampatti village in the Union Territory today, bringing in the police who fired two rounds to disperse the riotious crowd whose violence saw four men landing at the General Hospital with serious injuries and left the village tense.

Long-time rivalry between the groups in connection with the election of the fishermen village panchayat exploded into a blood-letting clash involving about 500 men from each side, who fought with lethal weapons like daggers, knives, iron rods and clubs in their bid for oneupmanship.

The fishermen village panchayat of Veerampatti, which should be distinguished from the official civic bodies, is a local set-up formed by the villagers themselves for settling disputes within the village and taking collective decisions concerning the village.

As such, one Rajaguru is the chieftain of the village and he was being challenged by one Kankeyan, aspiring to defeat the incumbent in the informal elections, causing groupism within the village, falling within the limits of Pondicherry.

With the two aspirants for the chieftain ' s position lining up for the contest, the village itself stood divided behind each of them. Those backing the incumbent leader and those backing the challenger have been at loggerhead for quite some time.

But today, the rivalry took a violent turn and the villagers pulled out their weapons for a full-throated battle on the streets of the village. On hearing about the clash, police rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the rioting groups but when things went out of control they fired two rounds.

While it is not clear if there were any casualties in the police firing, four persons, identified by the police as Rajendran, Selvalingam, Angappan and Manivannan, were admitted to the General Hospital here with injuries sustained during the violent clash.

The village remained tense after the clashes as heavy police pickets were posted there in a bid to avert a repeat of the morning incidents.