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Vijay fans arrested for violence over delay in Bigil screening in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri
Police resorted to mild canning to disperse the irate fans and arrested 30 of them in connection with the violence in Krishnagiri, about 250km from Chennai, early on Friday.
Hundreds of fans of Tamil movie star Vijay went on a rampage and ransacked public property on Friday to protest the delay in the screening of his latest film Bigil in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri town.
Police resorted to mild canning to disperse the irate fans and arrested 30 of them in connection with the violence in Krishnagiri, about 250km from Chennai, early on Friday.
Those arrested included functionaries of the district Vijay Fans Association, Aravindan and Thamilarasan.
According to police, the movie was scheduled to be released in three theatres in the town with a special early morning show, for which the state government had given the go-ahead at the eleventh hour.
Anxious fans started thronging the cinemas since midnight. As the film’s screening was delayed till 3.00am, the fans turned restive and gathered at areas close to the theatres and indulged in violence, turning the area into a war zone.
“The fans, mostly youngsters and teenagers, ransacked the road dividers, corporation water tanks on the roadside, banners of shops and establishments. It was in the vicinity of a police post and the irate fans also indulged in stone-throwing, prompting police action,” a police official said.
All the arrested were remanded to custody and lodged in prison, the official added.
In another incident, three fans of the actor driving a two-wheeler hit another motorcycle, killing an infant and critically injuring her father at Palliyarai Kuppam near Thiruvallur, police said.
According to police, one-and-a-half-year-old Pooja Sree was with her father, Rudhragiri, who was waiting to cross the road when the accident occurred.
The child was thrown 20 feet off the road after the men driving the two-wheeler at a speed of around 120 kmph hit another two-wheeler, police added.
Rushed to a hospital by passersby, the child was referred to the Government Children’s Hospital in Egmore in Chennai, where she succumbed to her injuries. She was the child of her parents, born after seven years of their marriage.
Rudhragiri and the three Vijay fans are being treated at the Thiruvallur GH.
Police in the Thiruvallur Taluk registered a case and arrested Inbaraj, 25, of Kasavanallathur, who was driving the motorcycle which caused the accident.
Police are also probing whether it was also a case of drunken driving.
A sports drama Bigil, whistle in Tamil, has received mixed reviews from critics and fans and Vijay’s performance was praised. It also stars Jackie Shroff, Nayanthara, Kathir, Yogi Babu and Vivek.
