A tense situation prevailed at the Gobasandiram village near Shoolagiri in Krishnagiri on Thursday, February 2 after the district administration refused to give permission to conduct jallikattu and erudhu vidum vizha (bull race). Hundreds of villagers took to the streets and blocked the Chennai-Bengaluru national highway for nearly six hours. People took to the streets at 6 am and continued to protest until 12 pm during which they pelted stones at government and private buses and police vehicles. Reports said that at least 10 buses were attacked. To disperse the crowd, the police used tear gas shells and resorted to lathi charge.
The people of Gobasandiram had approached the District Collector last month to seek permission to host jallikattu and the bull race. The Collector decided to consult with nine government departments including fire safety and rescue, police, public works department, revenue department before giving permission. After inspecting the venue for the events, the team constituting people from the aforementioned departments denied permission. To protest the denial of permission, several people took to the streets and blocked a lorry to disrupt traffic on the Chennai-Bengaluru highway. Owing to the disruption, a long line of vehicles was made to wait for several hours.
According to the Times of India, Krishnagiri Superintendent of Police (SP) Saroj Kumar Thakur, sub-collector Saranya and other officials went to the site of the protest to initiate peace talks with the protesters. Meanwhile, the District Collector of Krishnagiri Jaya Chandra Bhanu Reddy, granted permission for the events to take place. The SP told the media that the situation is under control now after the police intervened. He added that they began regulating the traffic that was stalled for nearly six hours.