Newindpress
Bangalore, Jan 23: The footfall on the usually busy roads in and around Commercial street and Shivajinagar touched the lowest on Monday, a day after rioting claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy. In the trouble-hit Bharathinagar area, curfew was relaxed around noon but prohibitory orders have been clamped till Tuesday midnight.
Though no untoward incident was reported in and around the Shivajinagar area, all shops and shopping complexes remained closed. In the morning, a company of Rapid Action Force (RAF) was deployed in Bharathinagar area and a flag march was taken out to instill confidence among the residents.
“Apart from one minor incident of stone pelting during the flag march, there was no violence reported from these areas,” a senior police official told this paper.
In the Bharathinagar area, some shops were opened but the police later closed them as the curfew was on. The police patrolling teams also used loud speakers advising residents to stay at home. Though the curfew was relaxed in the afternoon, no shops opened.
The police said that 65 people have been arrested in connection with the rioting. “Around 20 litres of acid was seized and about 50 sickles were recovered from the arrested persons. The situation in Bharathinagar is under control,” the official said. In the meanwhile, senior police offiials took a stock of the situation in Bharathinagar in the morning.
On Sunday a 12-year-boy killed and about eight others sustained bullet injuries when police fired at a mob which indulged in arson and rioting during a ‘Shoba Yatra’ taken out by Hindu organisations on Sunday. Nearly 30 people, including policemen, were injured in the violence.
The police said that violence erupted when a mob heading towards Murphy Town to join the Virat Hindu Samajyotsava procession, started pelting stones at passing vehicles, houses and shops on the under-bridge on Tannery Road.
The Bharathinagar area had first flared up on Friday evening when it witnessed clashes during an anti-US rally held to protest the hanging of Saddam Hussein.
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