Paramakudi police firing: toll rises to seven

With two more persons succumbing to injuries at a hospital, the death toll in the police firing on a stone-pelting mob of Dalits, who indulged in violence following detention of their leader John Pandian, has risen to seven, police said on Monday.

Two persons identified as Teerpukani and Vellaichamy succumbed to injuries late on Sunday night.

Officials have suspended bus services to the rural areas in the sensitive districts, including Ramanathapuram, Madurai, Sivaganga and Virudhunagar as a precautionary step.