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  India   Cauvery water row: Violence hits Tamil Nadu, K'taka; Bengaluru shuts down

Cauvery water row: Violence hits Tamil Nadu, K'taka; Bengaluru shuts down

AGE CORRESPONDENT WITH AGENCY INPUTS
Published : Sep 12, 2016, 3:55 pm IST
Updated : Sep 12, 2016, 3:55 pm IST

Agitators stopped vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration, asking occupants to get down and set the vehicles on fire.

 Pro-Kannada activists set a vehicle on fire in Bengaluru during protest over Cauvery water row. (Photo: ANI Twitter)
  Pro-Kannada activists set a vehicle on fire in Bengaluru during protest over Cauvery water row. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

Agitators stopped vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration, asking occupants to get down and set the vehicles on fire.

Bengaluru: Amid Cauvery water dispute, tension prevailed in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as protests turned violent on Monday with agitators attacking shops and vehicles.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court modified its September 5 order, asking Karnataka to release a reduced amount of 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery River water per day to Tamil Nadu till September 20 from the earlier 15,000 cusecs a day to ameliorate the plight of farmers of the neighbouring state.

As precautionary measure, schools in Bengaluru were closed and children were sent home. Metro services were also suspended in the city.

Violence intensified in Bengaluru and Mysuru as agitators stopped vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration, asking occupants to get down and set the vehicles on fire. Vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration have been barred from entering Karnataka.

Around 500 police personnel have been deployed near KRS Dam following violence in both the states.

In Tamil Nadu, suspected pro-Tamil protesters attacked and damaged a hotel run by a native of Karnataka.

The incident occurred during the wee hours on Monday when the group of protesters gathered around the hotel situated in Mylapore and damaged its window panes using iron rods and wooden logs, police said adding that no one was injured.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack and a probe is on, police said.

The incident comes a day after a video purportedly showing a 22-year-old Tamil youth being beaten by a group of men in Bengaluru for allegedly posting "derogatory" remarks on social media against Kannada film actors went viral. It was also alleged that the youth had made comments, which were later deleted, against the ongoing Cauvery water agitation in Karnataka on the social media.

Meanwhile, seven tourist vehicles bearing Karnataka registration that were parked at a temple in Rameswaram were damaged when agitated members of various outfits including Naam Tamizhar Iyakkam allegedly indulged in vandalism early today, police said.

The group entered the parking lot of a temple near Agni Theertham in the town and damaged the vehicles bearing Karnataka registration with clubs and stones, they said.

Cases have been registered against seven persons including one Manmathan, belonging to Tamizhar Desiya Front and are searching the suspects, they added.

(This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)