Ongoing case · 2018
Also known as Thoothukudi police firing · Thoothukudi massacre
Ongoing case: this file carries charge-sheet facts only. Anyone charged is presumed innocent unless convicted.
The short answer
Police in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, opened fire on protesters demonstrating against the expansion of Sterlite Copper's smelter plant on 22–23 May 2018, killing 13 people and injuring 102; a 14th person later died of injuries. The CBI filed cases against unidentified police and revenue officials, and a state commission of inquiry found the firing "unprovoked" and faulted top officials.
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Suggest coverage for 2018 Thoothukudi protest shootingIn May 2018, long-running protests against the expansion of Sterlite Copper's smelting plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, culminated in police opening fire on demonstrators. On 22 May, the 100th day of the anti-Sterlite protests, thousands marched toward the Thoothukudi Collectorate in defiance of prohibitory orders. Protesters overpowered police lines, pelted stones, and torched vehicles; police responded with lathi charges, tear gas, and eventually live gunfire. Police killed 12 people on 22 May and one more on 23 May; a man who had been in a coma after being injured in a lathi charge died in October 2018, raising the death toll to 14. Officers were reported to have fired without formal warning, including from atop a van, with witnesses and video suggesting deliberate targeting of protesters' heads.
Autopsies found that 12 of the 13 people killed during the protests were shot in the head or chest, and about half were shot from behind, despite police rules requiring shots to be aimed below the waist. In a related incident on 25 May, a woman was killed when a bus was torched during unrest in Srivaikuntam.
The protests were rooted in decades of environmental grievances against the Sterlite plant, operated by Vedanta Limited, including pollution studies dating to the 1990s and 2000s that found elevated respiratory illness, contaminated groundwater, and hazardous soil arsenic levels near the facility, as well as gas leaks in 1997 and 2013. The immediate trigger for the 2018 unrest was Sterlite's plan to double smelting capacity.
In the aftermath, the Tamil Nadu government sealed the plant in May 2018, and authorities imposed a five-day internet shutdown across Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, and Kanyakumari districts. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered cases in November 2018 against unidentified police personnel and revenue department officials for the deaths of 14 protesters, alleging criminal intimidation and criminal conspiracy. In December 2023, a Madurai court rejected the CBI's chargesheet, criticizing it for naming only one police officer and ordering further investigation; in July 2024 the Madras High Court found the CBI had shown "serious lapses" and appeared to have lost its independence.
The Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry, which submitted its report in August 2022, described the firing as "unprovoked," stated police had fired on "fleeing protesters," and singled out the then District Collector for "abdication of responsibility, gross negligence and ill-conceived decisions." The report also found that then Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami was being updated on developments during the firing, despite his public statement that he had learned of it only through media reports. United Nations human rights experts condemned the police's use of force as "excessive and disproportionate." Environmental activist S. Mugilan, who alleged a police-company conspiracy behind the shooting, disappeared in February 2019 and was found five months later, claiming he had been abducted; the Madras High Court later dismissed his account as fabricated.
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board permits establishment of Sterlite's copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi.
Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board orders plant shutdown after a sulphur dioxide gas leak hospitalizes more than 90 people.
Residents begin indefinite dharna and hunger strike against Sterlite's planned capacity expansion.
Over 500 protesters, including women and schoolchildren, are arrested after blocking company gates.
Thousands protest in Thoothukudi town demanding closure of the plant, backed by a trader shutdown.
Sterlite plant closes, citing a 15-day maintenance process.
Thoothukudi District Anti-Sterlite Forum forms, planning to mark the 100th day of protests.
Police open fire on protesters marching to the Thoothukudi Collectorate, killing 12 people and injuring dozens.
One more protester is shot dead as unrest continues; the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry later found that SP Mahendran had opened fire in Anna Nagar, killing a 25-year-old.
A woman is killed when a bus is torched during unrest in Srivaikuntam; DMK organizes a state-wide bandh.
Sterlite factory is sealed by order of the Tamil Nadu Environment and Forests Department.
A man injured in a police lathi charge dies after five months in a coma, raising the death toll to 14.
Central Bureau of Investigation registers cases against unidentified police and revenue officials over the deaths.
Environmental activist S. Mugilan holds a press conference alleging a police-Sterlite conspiracy and disappears the same day.
Mugilan is found after five months missing and arrested at a railway station in Tirupathi.
Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry submits report recommending action against top police officials for excessive lethal force.
Chief Judicial Magistrate of Madurai rejects CBI's chargesheet, ordering further investigation.
CBI informs Madras High Court it completed further investigation and filed an additional report.
Madras High Court criticizes CBI for serious lapses and apparent loss of independence in the investigation.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Superintendent of Police who, per the Commission of Inquiry, took a gunman's pistol and opened nine rounds of fire on 23 May, killing a 25-year-old and injuring others.[3]
Then District Collector of Thoothukudi; singled out by the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of Inquiry for 'abdication of responsibility, gross negligence and ill-conceived decisions' during the firing.[3]
Police officer identified by the Commission of Inquiry as having opened 17 rounds of fire with a Self Loading Rifle at multiple locations during the 22 May firing.[3]
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