Anti-Sterlite stir: 11 die in police action; TN govt sets up inquiry panel

A man was killed in fresh police firing on anti-Sterlite plant agitators today, while some others were injured in clashes with security personnel in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin town, a day after 10 people lost their lives in police action, officials said.

Enraged over yesterday's killings, protesters took to streets and showered stones and brickbats at police, prompting security personnel to open fire at Anna Nagar, they said.

The body of the man killed in firing, and those injured have been rushed to a government hospital.

Locals have been agitating for over 100 days now demanding closure of the Vedanta group copper plant over pollution concerns.

The Tamil Nadu government has constituted an inquiry commission to look into the matter. The Commission of Inquiry, headed by Aruna Jagadeesan a retired judge of the Madras High Court, will probe the violence.

"The panel will cover the law and order incidents following the siege of the District Collectorate on May 22 by thousands of persons violating prohibitory orders," an official release said here.

The Madras High Court today stayed a proposed expansion of the Sterlite copper smelter plant in Tuticorin.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognisance of the violence and issued notices to chief secretary and the director general of police, calling for detailed reports in two weeks.

Opposition leaders, including DMK working president