Over 1,000 arrested for Cauvery riots on September 12

Bengaluru: The city police have till Monday arrested 1,045 people in the 216 cases, which were registered in the September 12 arson and violence in Bengaluru.

“Majority of the arrests have been made from Bengaluru, West and North divisions, from where maximum numbers of cases of arson (Section 435 of the Indian Penal Code) and damage to public property (Section 425 IPC) were registered,” said Police Commissioner N.S. Megharikh. He said that the accused included rowdies and criminals. What is of interest however is that none of the organisations or outfits has come forward to accept or support any of the accused, who have been arrested, said the top cop.

Bengaluru witnessed large-scale violence on September 12, which is being marked as the black Monday in the cultural history of the Silicon Valley of India. Forty buses of KPN Travel Agency were torched in R.R. Nagar in approximately 20 minutes in protest against the Supreme Court order asking Karnataka to release 12,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu till September 20.

The violence in the city was reportedly triggered by irresponsible videos, which showcased violence in Chennai on a popular restaurant owned by a Kannadiga.

The police, who were prepared for the state bandh on September 9 called to protest against the Supreme Court’s directive to Karnataka to release 15,000 cusecs of Cauvery water over the next 10 days to Tamil Nadu, were taken aback at the unprecedented violence.

Meanwhile, the police have beefed up security across the city for the apex court’s hearing on the Cauvery water plea, which was filed by the State government on Monday. The plea will come up for hearing on Tuesday.

‘Violence not sign of healthy democracy’
The recent incidents of violence in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over Cauvery water dispute is not a sign of healthy democracy, Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday.

“...because, 69 years after Independence if you start quarreling ... set on fire this bus and that bus. What happened recently in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is not a good thing for democracy...It is not a good sign for healthy democracy,” Venkaiah remarked after formally inaugurating the Telangana Postal Circle here. “We are all one people...we are one country...we may be different states for administrative convenience and for developmental purpose. But at the end of the day we all are Indians. This feeling has to be there among us. So, let us keep this spirit in mind and move forward and both states (Karnataka and Tamil Nadu) should work (together) and should develop,” the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister stressed. He said every issue mentioned in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act will be taken to its logical conclusion.

“No doubt about it and there is nothing to worry about it. Certain issues may take time...its not that much simple that you divide the state and everything is done. Even sometimes problems erupt during separation of families and it takes time to resolve the problems,” he said.