48 bull-tamers injured in Palamedu Jallikattu

Madurai: At least 48 competitors were injured, 14 of them seriously, in the bull-taming sport ‘Jallikattu’ held at Palamedu near here as part of the Pongal festivities Wednesday, officials said.

The 14 bull tamers had been hospitalised while the others with minor injuries were treated at the medical centre at the venue itself, they said.

Palamedu is one of the famous venues for Jallikattu in the district and more than 500 tamers took part in the event held in seven rounds and closely monitored by officials.

Though 602 bulls were chosen to take part in the sport, 125 bulls were not allowed to participate for different reasons.

There were prizes to the tamers and the bulls as well, officials said.

The first prize – a car – went to a bull owned by Prabhu as it could not be tamed by anyone.

Prabhakaran got the first prize for taming the maximum number of bulls while Ajay and Kathick won the second and third prize respectively.

For the first time, the government has introduced the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Beema Yojana insurance scheme for the bull-tamers at the event with a death cover of Rs two lakh each at a premium of Rs 12 each.

District Collector S Natarajan has said the spectators too would be covered and they could insure themselves.