BENGALURU: While on Monday the protesters took to streets in Bommanahalli, on Tuesday all other major highways such as Mysuru Road, Tumakuru Road, Bannerghatta Road, Hosur Raod and other parts of the city witnessed arson and vandalism leading to traffic gridlocks, some of them stretching up to 10 km.
Traffic movement at Electronic City, Yeshawanthpura, Peenya, Naganathapura, Mysuru Road, Tumkur Road, Magadi Road, Madivala, Rajagoaplanagar, West of Chord Road, Bellandur Gate, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, BTM Layout Sector 1 and surrounding areas was severely affected.
Police had to use force to control the mob after they started pelting stones and torched several buses and other vehicles at various places on Hosur Road, Tumakuru Road and Jalahalli Cross.
Traffic on the arterial Hosur Road got disrupted, as thousands of protesters gathered at the Bommanahalli Junction in the morning. Vehicular movement below the flyover got disrupted since 8.30 am. Around 9.30 am protests erupted across different parts of the city, thereby affecting peak hour traffic movement. Normalcy was restored by 3 pm
Harrowing experience for the injured
It was a harrowing experience for those who got injured during the protest by garment factory workers at various parts of the city. Preethi (19), who was passing by the place where protests were raging, got injured when a pellet her right thigh. Initially, she was rushed to Narayana Health City and later referred to Sparsh Hospitals.
Dr Sharanu Patil, Medical Director, Sparsh Hospitals said Preethi was operated upon and is doing fine. “The embedded piece has been removed surgically and she is doing fine,” said Dr Patil. One of her lecturers who had rushed her to the hospital, said that for no fault of theirs they had to foot a bill of '2,000.
Manjunath (47) was not that lucky. “Manjunath was brought unconscious and was bleeding profusely. He was immediately shifted to operation theatre,” said Ramesh, PRO, Sparsh Hospital.
The condition of Manjunath continues to be critical as a sharp object has entered and exited his chest damaging his lungs and ribs. When asked about the severity of the injury, Ramesh said the patient was shot with a bullet. “It is has been confirmed that it is bullet, however, we are not sure whether it was metal bullet or rubber bullet,” he added.
