Four buses and two lorries were burnt, stones pelted on vehicles and people and shops attacked across Karnataka to enforce the 6am-6pm shutdown called by the ruling BJP.
Bangalore became a bundle of nerves as the state bandh call made a case for party workers to run riot.
Four buses and two lorries were burnt, stones pelted on vehicles and people and shops attacked across Karnataka to enforce the 6am-6pm shutdown called by the ruling BJP on Saturday to protest governor HR Bhardwaj’s sanction for chief minister BS Yeddyurappa’s prosecution on corruption charges.
Police were mute spectators to bottle-wielding BJP workers who roamed in the streets forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters. All this despite the police deploying around 18,000 personnel to maintain law and order on the city roads.
More than 500 pro-bandh protesters were arrested in the city for indulging in arson and rioting, besides those who held a rally at the Mahatma Gandhi Circle. Former ministers Katta Subramanya Naidu and Aravind Limbavalli and MLAs BN Vijaya Kumar, Premamchandra Sagar, Ravi Subramanyam and Nandish Reddy were among the arrested.
Bangalore city police commissioner Shankar M Bidari on Saturday imposed prohibitory orders for two days, banning assembly of five or more persons at a place, but that did not deter hundreds of BJP supporters from going round the city in mobs to ensure the shutdown was total.
Hundreds were stranded at bus terminals and rail stations in Bangalore and in major towns in the state as government-run buses went off the roads.
Schools and colleges were shut for the day fearing violence. Attendance in government offices and banks was minimal as only those who caught the early morning buses or dared to use their own vehicles could reach their work places.
Hordes of passengers were stranded at bus stands as the city transport and the Karnataka state transport corporations withdrew most of their fleets after 10am, as mobs took to hurling stones at several places.
A few autos and taxis that were willing to risk possible attack and took passengers made a killing, charging the hapless people exorbitant fares.
Reports of BJP workers taking out rallies came from all 30 districts of the state.
Meanwhile, children made merry on the streets, playing cricket. With schools and colleges closed for the day due to the bandh, children and youngsters seemed like birds set free. Some colleges postponed their examinations and from early morning, as early as 7am, educational institutions sent out SMS to the parents telling them to keep their wards at home. Some parents who did not receive the message were seen return home after they found the school/college gates shut.
The bandh was also successful across the state with activities paralysed for the whole day in coastal areas, Gulbarga town and Davanagere district. In Mysore, however, the bandh call had little impact.
—With agency inputs
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