Cauvery row: Tamil outfit creates ruckus inside Karnataka Bank

Bank staff ran helter skelter while the panic-stricken customers rushed out

Volunteers of a Tamil fringe outfit on Monday barged into Karnataka Bank branch here and created ruckus, protesting against the ongoing agitations in the neighbouring state opposing release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, police said.

Around 25 workers of Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi entered the branch on Misson Street wielding broomsticks, banged them on the tables and asked the bank staff to vacate the premises.

The staff ran helter skelter while the panic-stricken customers rushed out.

Police men, who were deployed in the vicinity, rushed there and took the protesters into custody.

The bank was closed for a few hours after the incident and later reopened. However, it was again shut following advice from police

Earlier, volunteers and leaders of various Tamil outfits came in a procession and staged a demonstration a few metres away from the bankprotesting against the Karnataka government and condemned the attack on a Tamil youth by a group of men in Bengaluru for allegedly posting "derogatory" remarks on social media against Kannada film actors.

Besides condemning the ongoing agitations in Karnataka over the Cauvery issue, the protesters shouted slogans against the Karnataka government, alleging that it had failed to protect the properties of Tamils there.