Sterlite protest in Tuticorin: Nine people were killed in port city of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday after a crowd close to 20,000 started protesting against Vedanta group’s Sterlite Copper plant citing pollution concerns and demanded immediate closure of it. Following the violence on Tuesday, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Tamil Nadu's chief minister, ordered an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the shootings but stood by the security force's actions. Palaniswami issued a statement saying that police were "compelled to take preventative measures to bring the violence under control" after protesters pelted officers with stones and set fire to police vehicles and other vehicles parked nearby. Heavy deployment of police personnel in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, as hundreds of residents and activists stage an anti-Sterlite protest on Tuesday (Source: ANI)

At least 12 people have lost their lives and nine others were critically injured in police firing which took place as protests against Sterlite’s industrial plant intensified in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin). Residents of the port city of Thootukudi, located at the tip of the Indian subcontinent, and environmentalists have been demonstrating for more than three months against the copper plant, one of India’s biggest, alleging that it is a major source of pollution and a risk to fisheries. Protesters rampaged for hours in the southern state of Tamil Nadu calling for the closure of the plant owned by British-based mining giant Vedanta Resources. He also said people were murdered in Tuticorin for protesting against injustice.
Police in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India, kill nine people who protested against Vedanta Resources' copper smelter operation, alleging that it is a major source of pollution and a risk to fisheries. State Minister D. Jayakumar says that it was "unavoidable" that the people were shot. National Congress opposition leader Rahul Gandhi calls the killings "state sponsored terrorism".