Mangaluru: At least seven buses were damaged, apart from a vehicle belonging to Bantwal MLA Rajesh Naik U., in stone-throwing, as the Bharat Bandh called by the Congress opposing increasing fuel prices affected life in Dakshina Kannada on Monday.
Some tyres were brunt near the Pumpwell Junction in the city early on Monday. This was followed by a private bus coming to Mangaluru from Bengaluru being damaged in stone-throwing near the Balmatta Post Office at 6 a.m. Later, a KSRTC bus coming to the city from Bengaluru was also damaged in stone-throwing at Jakribettu near B.C. Road at around 6.45 a.m. reportedly by two motorcycle-borne men.
Mr. Naik said that a huge stone was thrown at his car while he was driving past Bolangady near Kalladka at around 11 a.m. He said that the rearview mirror of his vehicle was damaged. Later, he filed a complaint with the Bantwal police.
In a complaint to Vitla police, Arun Kumar said that four persons attacked his pick-up vehicle with stones when he was waiting for customers at Mani Junction at about 8.45 a.m.
The police said that stones were thrown at a hotel in Shivabagh in the city by a person sporting a helmet. A case was registered with the Mangaluru East police under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. Dilraj Alva, president of Dakshina Kannada Bus Owners Association, said that five city buses parked in different parts of the city were damaged in stone-throwing.
Autorickshaw driver Prasad Salian said that two motorcycle-borne men threw stones at his autorickshaw while he was returning from Mannagudde after dropping passengers in the morning.
Private and KSRTC buses were off the road and educational institutions remained closed. All three shopping malls, some hotels and some commercial establishments in the city remained open.
There was heated exchange of words between Magnaluru City South MLA D. Vedavyas Kamath and Police Commissioner T.R. Suresh when the former questioned the latter over allowing Congress activists to block movement of vehicles at the busy Ambedkar Circle for nearly an hour.
While Mr. Kamath asked Mr. Suresh about the number of notices issued to Congress leaders in relation to maintenance of law and order, Mr. Suresh asked him to come to his office and get the details. Mr. Suresh then asked the MLA to leave the area and allow the police to act against Congress activists protesting at the circle. As the MLA left the place, the police took Congress activists into preventive custody.
At Puttur, the police prevented Congress activists from forcibly closing down shops and business establishments. The Bantwal MLA said that the former Congress MLA B. Ramanath Rai went round Bantwal with police escort and forced people to close down their shops and business establishments.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vedavyas Kamath distributed food and water bottles to commuters stranded at the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus stand at Bejai due to the bandh. Mr. Kamath went to the bus stand with a vehicle carrying “Pulav” and water bottles at around 2 p.m. He and other Bharatiya Janata Party activists served “Pulav” to commuters on arecanut leaf plates. Commuters were asked not to waste food and dispose of the plates in the dustbin.