Cauvery row: Traffic jams choke Bengaluru as mobs torch lorries, stone shops

Protests by farmers and pro-Kannada outfits have been reported from several parts of Karnataka over the Supreme Court's order asking it to release water to Tamil Nadu. 

Protests intensified across Bengaluru as well, where schools and colleges have been shut and office goers have been asked to head home. Traffic across the city quickly jammed. Mobs were spotted stoning shops windows and vandalising vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration plates. Targeted establishments included a Coffee Day in Jayanagar and a petrol bunk. Stone-pelting mobs were also seen near Tin Factory, in KR Puram.

 

A pro-Kannada organisation held an agitation at the Satellite Bus Stand, Mysore Road. Police held a lathi charge to disperse the protestors. 

 

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Near Halasuru, a mob tried to protest before the statue of Tamil saint Thiruvalluvar. Tight police security has been arranged at the vicinity the under the supervision of ACP Mohammad Sajjad Khan.

The Bengaluru Metro was also halted temporarily, as protesters tried to barge into the Indiranagar Station. 

Two lorries with Tamil Nadu registrations were torched on Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) road on the Bengaluru-Mysuru corridor. The Bengaluru-Mysuru road has also been blocked. 

Protest have also spread across the state, including in Mandya and Maddur. Protests have been exceptional fierce in Pandavapur town. The town witnessed several torching of vehicles and a lathi charge. 

Malavalli Taluk has also been reported as tense. 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he would write to his Tamil Nadu counterpart Jayalalithaa to help cooperate in maintaining cordiality between the states, which are now locked in a bitter row over the release of Cauvery water.
    

Siddaramaiah said he would also speak to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, if necessary, on the incidents targeting Kannadigas.

 

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The state Chief Secretary and Director General of Police had spoken to their Tamil Nadu counterparts and asked them to ensure stern action against the culprits and that such incidents did not recur, Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
    

While seeking measures to protect the interests of Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu, it had been assured to Tamil Nadu that similarly, steps would be taken for the safety of Tamils in the state and also their property, he said.
    

Siddaramaiah also advised the media "not to glorify" certain incidents relating to "sensitive" issues and be restrained in reporting them.
    

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said police forces had been deployed in areas where Tamils live in large numbers in Bengaluru and elsewhere in Karnataka. "We have taken precautions."
    

He appealed to people of both states not to resort to violence.
    

The state DGP had conveyed to his Tamil Nadu counterpart that safety of Kannadigas be ensured while "equally, we will also ensure that Tamils are safe in Karnataka," he said.
    

Asked about a Tamil engineering student being beaten up allegedly by a group of people here for posting 'derogatory' remarks against some Kannada actors and against the Cauvery agitation, with a video capturing the incident going viral, he said it was a "small incident".

 

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Parameshwara said the police tried to contact the student but he was not available, adding, "small incidents should not be blown out of proportion."
    

 Meanwhile, Bangalore Tamil Sangam today asked Siddaramaiah to direct the police to maintain law and order and provide security to all Tamils living in the state.
    

"We request you to kindly instruct the police to maintain law and order and provide security to all Tamilians living in the state," Sangam President Damodaran told PTI here.
    

He also urged the media, especially visual, not to "incite" people of both the states by sensationalising the news of violence. He urged the central government to intervene to solve the vexed problem. 

 

Image: A torched lorry in KR Puram limits, Bengaluru

Meanwhile, a Suvarna News report noted that given the attacks on Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu, toll gate personnel in the Bengaluru- Chennai highway have been advising Karnataka vehicles on their way to Tamil Nadu to cancel their trip. 

According to further reports, on various crossing points on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, Karnataka vehicles bearing the ‘KA’ registration are being stopped by crowds and drivers being sternly asked to head back, as a preventive measure.

Speaking to Ravi Bhandari of Suvarna News, Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy stated that Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses plying to Tamil Nadu had been stopped by the police at Attibele. 

The Minister added that if the situation in Tamil Nadu gets aggravated, then they would stop all bus services to the neighbouring state. He also appealed for peace in both states. 

Kannadigas at Chennai attacked: 

Even Tamil Nadu is witnessing scenes of arson in connection with the Cauvery river issue, and agitations are being intensified. Several attacks against Kannadigas in the state have been reported. 

A petrol bomb attack was made on Woodlands Hotel, a franchise owned by a Kannada-origin person, in Chennai and stones were pelted at the hotel by a mob. They also barged into the hotel and destroyed all appliances and furniture in the hotel.

Some culprits in Ramanathapuram have set a bike on fire and pelted stones on vehicles with ‘KA’ registration that were plying at Nagapattinam, Trichy, Thanjavur.  Police have arrested eight people in this connection.