MADRAS, India, Dec. 25, Reuter: Two people were killed and 60 injured when police Opened fire on crowds of mourners shortly after film star turned politician M.G. Ramachandra was buried in this Southern Indian city on Friday. Madras Police Chief Wilson Dewaram said crowd’s pelted police with stones and his men opened fire killing two people.
Nearly a million people attended the burial and at least five of Ramachandran’s fans committed suicide in the Southern State of Tamil Nadu.
Wailing women and grieving men jammed the streets and packed Madras’ marina beach where the body was buried.
Dewaram, who described the crowd as the biggest ever seen in Madras, told Reuters people were angry at police for not allowing them to get closer to the burial site. He said police fired after teargases failed to break up the crowds.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 1, 1988
