Cauvery row: Centre rushes 10 RAF companies to Karnataka

Personnel have been sent to the violence-prone areas of Karnataka and if need arises, some contingents will also be deployed in Tamil Nadu

The Centre on Monday rushed ten companies comprising 1,000 personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) to Karnataka to tackle the violent situation arising out of the raging Cauvery water sharing dispute.

Officials said the personnel have been sent to the violence-prone areas of Karnataka and if need arises, some of the contingents will also be deployed in Tamil Nadu.

These additional contingents will assist the state police even as three such RAF units and an all-women Central Reserve Police Force company have already been deployed in Karnataka in view of the violent protests.

They said 5-10 more companies of Border Security Force and Indo-Tibetan Border Police are also on standby and can be sent in if the any of the two state governments require. One company comprises 100 personnel.

Sporadic violence broke out in Bangalore, where several buses were set ablaze, and in some other parts of Karnataka even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to his Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa to ensure adequate safety and protection for Kannada-speaking people in the state.

Protests by fringe Tamil outfits erupted in parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry with some commercial and government establishments of Karnataka being targeted.