COIMBATORE: The release of much-awaited Rajinikanth-starrer Petta on Thursday drove his fans in the city crazy and police had to resort to mild lathi-charge as the frenzy went uncontrollable at a theatre. Windshield of a police jeep was damaged as fans ran helter-skelter.Petta, along with Ajith-starrer Viswasam, was released at Archana and Darsana theatre located near Mettupalayam Road on Thursday morning. While Viswasam was screened at 5am, fans were informed that Petta would be screened around 9am. This irked Rajini fans and they tore the flex banner of Petta film.To control the crowd, 10 police personnel from RS Puram police station were deployed on the theatre premises. As more than 1,000 fans of Rajini and Ajith gathered at the theatre, police resorted to mild lathi-charge to disperse them. Police inspector T Jothi’s jeep was parked near the main gate of the theatre. Its windshield was damaged as fans ran amok.“Though we first used mild lathi-charge, fans cooperated with us later. We did not register any case against them,” said a police officer.Following the incident, police deployed more police personnel at theatres in the city to prevent any untoward incident.

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