Protests over the raging Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu turned violent today with incidents of attacks on trucks and hotels reported in both the states, sparking fresh tensions.
Sporadic violence broke out in Bangalore and in some other parts of Karnataka even as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote to his Tamil Nadu counterpart 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.
A popular Kannadiga-owned hotel in Chennai and seven tourist vehicles bearing Karnataka registration in Rameswaram were vandalised while protesters created a ruckus at Karnataka Bank branches in Erode and neighbouring Union Territory of Puducherry, police said.
Four persons have been detained in connection with the hotel attack while around 25 taken into custody in Puducherry, they said.
Lorries with Tamil Nadu registration number were either stoned or set on fire in Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Chitradurga and Dharwad districts as Kannada activists gave vent to their anger over alleged attacks on state vehicles and property of Kannadigas in the neighbouring state.
Karnataka DGP Om Prakash said the situation was tense, but under control.
The violence in Karnataka flared up shortly after the Supreme Court, modifying its September 5 order, today asked Karnataka to release a reduced amount of 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery River water to Tamil Nadu till September 20.
The Cauvery Supervisory Committee, meanwhile, at its meeting in Delhi failed to arrive at a decision on quantum of Cauvery river water to be released to Tamil Nadu and other states in furtherance of the Supreme Court order and decided to meet again on September 19.
At least six lorries with Tamil Nadu registration were set on fire or stoned and a Chennai-based mobile shop and two hotels were attacked in Bengaluru, police said, as activists of different pro-Kannada outfits took to the streets.
Bengaluru police said prohibitory orders had not been imposed in any part of the city and asked people not to pay heed to rumours.
Elaborate security arrangements are in place in the city with 15,000 policemen being deployed.
In Mandya district, the epicentre of the Cauvery agitation, the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway was blocked.
Police made a lathicharge to disperse a violent mob, which tried to loot some shops.
Several vehicles with Tamil Nadu registration were damaged on Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, police said.
Protests were held outside the branches of Karnataka Bank in Erode even as protestors barged into the bank's branch at Puducherry and created a ruckus.
Movement of commercial and non-commercial vehicles including two-wheelers to Karnataka from Erode was restricted while inter-state road transport through Hosur was also affected on account of escalating protests in Karnataka.
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