13 September,2016 09:14 AM IST | | Agencies
Protesters in Karnataka attack trucks bearing Tamil Nadu registration after similar incidents in the other state
Tamil Nadu bound buses in flames after they were torched by pro-Kannada activists in Bengaluru
Bengaluru/Chennai: Violence broke out in Bengaluru and parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry yesterday, as part of the ongoing agitation against release of Cauvery water.
Security outside a Karnataka Bank branch in Chennai on Monday in the wake of protests against the release of water from the river Cauvery. Pic/AP, PTI
Bengaluru tense
The Siddaramaiah government asked Tamil Nadu to protect Kannadigas while assuring to safeguard Tamils in the state. Shortly after the modified Supreme Court order on release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and amid reports of alleged attacks on Kannadigas in the neighbouring state, violence broke out, sending a wave of panic across Bengaluru, which was brought under prohibitory orders.
Trucks with Tamil Nadu registration numbers were either stoned or set on fire in Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga and Dharwad districts as Kannada activists vented their anger over alleged attacks on state vehicles and property of Kannadigas in the neighbouring state.
Siddaramaiah has called a meeting today to discuss the situation. Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said forces have been deployed at sensitive points, particularly in areas with Tamil population.
Vehicles vandalised
In Chennai, the protests came a day after a video purportedly showing a 22-year-old Tamil youth being beaten up by a group of men in Bengaluru for alleged "derogatory" remarks on social media against Kannada film actors went viral. A restaurant and vehicles bearing Karnataka registration in Rameswaram were vandalised while protesters created a ruckus at a Karnataka Bank branch in neighbouring Puducherry.
