22-year-old girl torched buses for biryani in Cauvery water row protest
Bengaluru: Twenty-two year old Bhagyashree, a resident of D’Souza Nagar, was lured into taking part in protesting, rioting and arson just for a ‘biryani’ promised to her by few youths in the area, who knew her, claimed her family members. Bhagyashree had recently joined a pro-Kannada outfit named Kannada Kasthuri Sangatane in West Bengaluru.
Bhagyashree was arrested on Thursday after the west division police accessed CCTV footage where she was seen carrying a can filled with fuel and pouring it on vehicles. The Rajarajeshwari Nagar police had earlier picked up seven youths, four of them from D’Souza Nagar, for their involvement in arson at the KPN bus parking yard, who revealed to the police about Bhagyashree’s involvement.
She is a native of Raichur and lost her father five years ago. She was living along with her mother close to the KPN bus parking yard and did odd jobs for living.
On Monday evening, few local youths, who knew Bhagyashree, came to her house and asked her to join the protest and offered her ‘biryani’. However after taking to streets in protest, Bhagyashree was seen taking petrol from other vehicles and exhorted the youths to set fire to the buses parked at the yard. She had also donning a red and yellow flag around her neck. According to the police, she confessed to setting fire on one bus herself. There were over 40 buses parked at the yard and all of them were torched.
The trend of women getting into rowdism, extortion and other related crimes are not uncommon in the city, but women taking part in the Monday’s rioting and arson have clearly taken the police by surprise. According to sources, nine women have been arrested throughout the city in this connection.
Case handed over to CID
The case of the KPN bus yard arson have been handed over to CID for further investigation as the case is getting murkier day by day.
The CCTV footage showed Bhagyashree carrying a can of fuel into the parking yard, followed by few men who assaulted the security guards and other staff on the premises. It also emerges that the woman knew some disgruntled employees and sacked employees of KPN Travels.
While there are also allegations that the arson could have been purposefully carried out to claim insurance, at the behest of owner by his unidentified accomplices, there are also other allegations that sacked employees may have indulged in the arson to settle scores. Another allegation was that the miscreants also allegedly had allegiance to right wing organisations. All these angles will be probed by the CID, said a source.
