At least 12 persons, including the Deputy Director of Health Services and 11 spectators, were injured during the Jallikattu event at Vallam town panchayat near here today.

M. Subramanian, Deputy Director of Health Services was admitted to a private hospital in Thanjavur and the two spectators – Santhanam (75), a resident of Kandithampattu village, and Ramesh (32), a resident of Vallam – were admitted to Thanjavur Medical College Hospital (TMCH) while the rest were given first-aid and treated at the medical camp put up near the venue.

Earlier, District Collector A. Annadurai flagged off the Jallikattu event in the presence of Superintendent of Police J. Mahesh and Revenue Divisional Officer C. Suresh.

A total of 400 bulls and 400 bull-tamers participated in the event. All precautionary measures, including the mandatory medical test for the bulls and the participants, as laid down by the State Government were taken before the conduct of the traditional sport.

Normally, Jallikattu is held as part of the Pongal festivities in Tamil Nadu but could not be organised in the past three years in view of the ban on the sport.

Amidst continuing protests over the ban on Jallikattu across the State, the Tamil Nadu Assembly had on January 23 unanimously passed an amendment bill, clearing the path for conducting Jallikattu without any hindrance.

The government’s intervention came after a week-long protest largely by youths, including students, in the Marina Beach in Chennai, and elsewhere in the State.