Two gored to death at Indian bull-wrestling festival just ONE DAY after a ban on the sport was overt

The bull wrestling festival was taking place in a small village in southern India

• There had been a ban on the festival after it was deemed cruel to the animals

• But just days before the festival, the ban was overturned and it went ahead

• However, a group of rampaging bulls killed two people and injured 28 others

Two people have been gored to death in a bull-wrestling festival in southern India, a day after a ban on the controversial sport was overturned.

Several towns and villages in the southern state of Tamil Nadu celebrated the popular Jallikattu festival after week-long protests prompted authorities to approve an executive order lifting a Supreme Court ban on it.

But rampaging bulls sprinting through the village of Rapoosal in Pudukottai district fatally gored the two victims and injured 28 others, the Press Trust of India cited local police as saying.

Two people have been gored to death in a bull-wrestling festival in southern India. Pictured are bulls on the rampage during the festival

The Supreme Court last year outlawed the Jallikattu festival after a plea by animal rights groups but have since lifted the ban

The Supreme Court last year outlawed the Jallikattu festival after a plea by animal rights groups, which have long accused those taking part in the event - held annually across Tamil Nadu - of cruelty to the animals.

The state's residents say Jallikattu is a crucial part of their culture and identity.

Growing tensions over the past week in the state capital Chennai and other cities led Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday to issue an executive order that this year's event go ahead.

But thousands have continued to protest and refused to celebrate the festival, saying they want a permanent lifting of the court ban and not just a temporary order.

Protesters against the bull fighting festival form a human chain on the beach after police try to evict

Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam assured Tamils that the executive order would be made into a law during his state's next session of parliament starting Monday, according to PTI.

Panneerselvam was scheduled to launch the Jallikattu festival in the town of Alanganallur in Madurai district, where the sport is most popular. But he was forced to cancel his appearance due to strong protests.

It came after protesters hurled stones at a police station and set fire to dozens of police vehicles after they were forcibly evicted from a beach where they had been staying.

Police officer Balakrishnan said police moved on the protest campsite early Monday after thousands of people refused to leave Marina beach in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu state capital.

Police officers try to forcibly remove a group of women during a protest against a bull fighting festival in India

Police cordoned off the roads leading to the beach and moved in large numbers to clear the area of nearly 7,000 protesters, said Balakrishnan, who uses one name.

Gayatri, a protester, said police used tear gas and batons to clear the area.

S. George, the city police commissioner, said the police crackdown came as groups of trouble-makers tried to break the roadblocks set up by the police in different parts of the city to prevent more people from joining protesters at the beach.

They attacked policemen with rocks and set on fire and damaged 51 police vehicles, George told reporters in Chennai.

He also said that 94 policemen sustained injuries, some of them serious, in clashes with the protesters. Police arrested 40 people for attacking them, he added.

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