Bengaluru: City Police Commissioner Alok Kumar has imposed Section 144 across Bengaluru as clashes broke out between Congress-JD(S) and BJP workers on Tuesday evening.
Section 144 prohibits assembly of five or more people at one spot and will be in place for 48 hours, till 6 pm on Thursday.
The Police Commissioner said strict action will be taken against those violating the rules. Individual and groups should avoid organising protest rallies as long as Section 144 is in force.
He further said that all the bars, wine shops and pubs will remain closed till Thursday 6 pm.
The prohibitory orders were imposed after clashes broke out between the Congresss-JD(S) and BJP workers outside Nitesh Apartments on Race Course Road, where independent MLAs R. Shankar and H. Nagesh were spotted. The two MLAs had withdrawn their support to the government earlier in July.
Congress workers allegedly tried to storm the apartment and soon police too reached there. BJP workers, led by corporator Padmanabha Reddy, too rushed to the spot. The police persuaded the protestors to disperse.
The fight erupted even as the Karnataka Assembly was meeting at the Vidhana Soudha ahead of an expected trust vote in the House to decide the fate of the Congress-Janata Dal (S) coalition government.
