The case of May 2018 riots against the Sterlite Copper plant at Thoothukudi which claimed 13 lives  took a new turn in the last two days with the pro-Sterlite brigade submitting petition demanding opening and the opposing group demanding closure of the copper smelter unit. Both the public hearings held at Thoothukudi and Chennai on Sunday and Monday  by the National Green Tribunal-appointed committee saw tense moments with petitioners resorting to fisticuffs and assaults.

The committee of experts consisting of Tarun Agrawal, former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, Satish C Garkoti, scientist, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change  and HD Varalaxmi, senior environmental engineer, Central Pollution Control Board, examined the factory premises at Thoothukudi and surrounding areas and also held a public hearing on Sunday.

Though hundreds of people had gathered at Thoothukudi  Polytechnic College to submit their submissions, groups which  were behind the riots against Sterlite drove them away  from the venue on Sunday.

The company management has succeeded in spreading the word through selective leak in the media that all is well at Thoothukudi.

Muthukumaran and Ganeshan, two farmers from Udangudi village were manhandled by the agitators and had to be escorted out of the premises by the police. “We wanted to tell the authorities from New Delhi that there are no environmental or ecological issues here," said Muthukumaran.

Agrawal told reporters that majority of the persons who had assembled for the public hearing were for the closure of the factory. As the crowd became uncontrollable, the committee told the people supporting the factory to attend Monday’s public hearing at Chennai.

“I was assaulted by unidentified persons and the police did nothing to stop them. When it became clear that I cannot  withstand further blows, the police took me out and sent me away,” said S Thyagarajan, a 62-year- old contractor who also said that the anti-Sterlite agitation was yet another attempt by radical and chauvinist elements  to get the factory closed.

Thyagarajan made it to Chennai on Monday and submitted a memorandum to the committee stating that the locals and workers of the factory were unanimous in their demand that the factory should be opened.

“The rioting was a pre-planned move and the local people do not have any role in it. But the people who fell to the bullets were innocent while the rioters escaped without any trace,” said Thyagarajan.

Though the NGT appointed committee had announced that they would meet on Monday only those people who want the factory to be opened, many anti-Sterlite people had assembled in Chennai too. Vaiko, the MDMK leader alleged that he company management had paid money to mobilise supporters while the locals were left high and dry. According to the MDMK leader, all submissions by the Sterlite employees were lies.

Shanmugasundaram, a lawyer monitoring the operations of Sterlite pointed out that the riots had all the elements of the agitation undertaken by the Peoples Movement Against Nuclear Energy, the outfit which had campaigned against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. “The agitation here is sponsored by Left Wing Extremists, Tamil chauvinists and of course the Church.” alleged Shanmugasundaram.

A mission constituted by Chennai based Vedic Science Research Centre had submitted a memorandum to Union Home Minister alleging that the anti-Sterlite riots were fomented and led by anti-national organisations.