BENGALURU: Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwar said on Tuesday that the police are collecting evidence against miscreants who laid siege to the city on Monday. He said that the police have arrested 335 people and are going through video footage from TV channels and CCTV to identify more miscreants.
On Monday, 78 vehicles were burnt down in the city, while 19 others were put on fire in other parts of the state. Forty-four vehicles were damaged in the city, while 59 vehicles were stoned in other parts, he said.
The police lathicharged crowds at 13 places, while tear gases were used 16 times. Curfew has been clamped on 16 police station limits and it will be lifted only after situation returns to normal, he said.
Share images with us: Police to netizens
A day after over 100 vehicles were torched and widespread damage to public property, the city police on Tuesday began tracking down the goons. On Tuesday they urged citizens to share any information in the form of video, pictures or WhatsApp messages to the police so that necessary action can be initiated against them.
The city police on Tuesday took to their official Twitter handle and urged the netizens to share any photo or video of the incidents of Monday’s arson and rioting. Further, they also warned youngsters against indulging in any violent protests.
In a tweet on their official twitter handle, the police said, “#SituationPeacefulNow :Crowd sourced photos/videos will help in stringent punishment to vandals - share them with us - on 9480801000” .
The situation on Monday had turned volatile after some miscreants took to social media platform and began spreading misleading information in the form of forward WhatsApp and Facebook posts which propelled a hate campaign resulted into unrest, arson and rioting.
The Bengaluru police have stepped up their social media team to connect to lakhs of netizens and urged them not to follow or pay heed to any rumours. They appealed to the masses to follow Bengaluru police posts for updates. The city police’s social media team who was seen in action provided minute to minute update on city’s development and also informed about the current development.
Abhishek Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of police traffic (East) took to twitter and said, “We want to identify & book all miscreants who vandalized public property. You may have recorded the events. Please share it on 9480801000 or use @btppubliceye to upload your videos/photos. Identity of the witnesses will be kept confidential.
BMTC passengers stranded
BMTC's decision to cancel the BMTC services created a lot of problems for lakhs of commuters. Thousands of passengers were stuck in several bus terminus of the city waiting for buses. BMTC restarted skeleton services only by Tuesday afternoon.
According to the BMTC officials, passengers who were not aware of the city shutdown had arrived on night buses and trains expecting BMTC services in the early morning. "But we did not operate buses fearing violence and attack," said a driver. As expected, thousands of passengers were forced to wait till afternoon without food in the Kempegowda bus terminus in Majestic.
Aged passengers bore the brunt of the bus service withdrawal. According to Mr. Muttu Patil, 70 years, a resident of Chikkodi, he arrived in the city to visit Kidwai hospital for consultation. "There are no buses. It is difficult to hire an auto," he said. He said he will wait till BMTC restarts its services.
KSRTC suffered a revenue loss of Rs 2 crore
KSRTC also did not operate any of its inter state as well as intra state services on Tuesday till afternoon. But service was resumed around 12 noon. According to the KSRTC officials, KSRTC suffered a revenue loss of '2 crore due to cancellation of its schedules on Tuesday.
Air passengers stranded
Thousands of passengers were struck at the Kempegowda International Airport of the city on Tuesday due to the bandh. According to the air passengers who arrived to the airport, there were neither cabs nor the Vayuvajra services.
"Taxi and cab service resumed only after 12 noon. We were forced to stay inside the airport," said Mr. Sudheer Kamat, who arrived in the city from Mumbai.
"There were hundreds of passengers. Even though a few cab drivers were ready to ferry, they were demanding minimum Rs 2,000 to Mekhri circle,” he said.
According to the several cab drivers, they did not want to risk providing airport service due to the bandh. Bellary road is known as a venue for regular protests. Cabs are an easy target," said a cab driver. But in the evening BMTC restarted its Vayu Vajra services.
Few fuel stations open
Even though the situation was tense on Tuesday across the city, a few fuel stations remained open. As a majority of the fuel stations were shut, long queues were found at these fuel stations. According to the fuel station workers, as most of the petrol and diesel trucks were TN- registered, supply was very low. "But due to the low demand we could supply diesel to all the customers," said a worker.
