Normal life affected in City

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 28. Normal life in Bangalore was affected on Thursday following a 12-hour bandh call given by the Rajkumar Abhimanigala Sangha, the Kannada film industry, etc., to protest against the delay in securing the release of the actor, Mr. Rajkumar.

Sporadic incidents of stone throwing at buses were reported from several parts of the City.

The bandh was almost total in Bangalore city and its outskirts. Milk supply was affected as was transport, industrial, banking, insurance, service and trading sectors.

The Railways said there was no major disruption in its services while the city and mofussil services were hit. Airline services were normal.

While the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation ran skeletal services in the morning, it withdrew it services in some areas, including Yeshwanthpur, Magadi Road, Dasarahalli, Hanumanthnagar, Baiappanahalli, Ghousia Hospital in Shivajinagar, Byatarayanapura, Banaswadi, Hennur Main Road, Seshadripuram and Kariyanapalya, when agitators started throwing stones at buses.

Majority of autorickshaws were off roads and commuters had a tough time in reaching their destinations. Residents of outlying areas were put to hardship as there was no public transportation. A handful of autorickshaws and private vehicles charged several times the normal fare.

Some passengers of a BMTC bus, including a woman, bound for the City Bus Stand from Yelahanka Satellite Town suffered minor injuries after miscreants threw stones at the bus near Nehru Circle in Seshadripuram at about 2.45 p.m.

A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus was hit with stones on Rajkumar Road in Rajajinagar when it slowed down to negotiate a road hump. Six persons, who threw stones at BMTC and KSRTC buses, were arrested. Another 10 persons, including Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha leader and former legislator, Mr. Vatal Nagaraj, were arrested for violating prohibitory orders and staging a dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan demanding the expeditious release of Mr. Rajkumar. In yet another incident, five persons were arrested in Yeshwanthpur for taking out a procession.

Some people, who attempted to set up road blocks in Rajajinagar by setting used tyres on fire, and a group of eight persons who took out a procession on Baazar Street in Chamarajpet and attempted to set on fire an effigy of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Mr. Karunanidhi, fled when police rushed to the spots.

There was tension on 18th Cross, Malleswaram, for some time when rumours spread that police had "manhandled" a relative of Mr. Rajkumar. One of the sons of Mr. Rajkumar complained to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. T.Madiyal, who ordered an inquiry into the matter.

A majority of the shops and business establishments remained closed. Banks and insurance companies did not transact business. Only a handful of petrol bunks remained open. The Government had already declared holiday for schools and colleges. Many offices of the State and Union Governments reported thin to average attendance. Almost all the software firms, including multinationals, had announced holiday.

Hospitals and nursing homes reported slim attendance and the normally crowded out-patient ward in Victoria Hospital wore an almost deserted look. Hospitals used their own vehicles for transportation of their staff.

While some shops were open in J.P.Nagar and Jayanagar, business establishments on Avenue Road, Kempe Gowda Road, Magadi Road, West of Chord Road, Cunningham Road, JC Road, MG Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road, Commercial Street, Indiranagar, Ulsoor, KR Puram, Rajajinagar, Malleswaram, Gandhinagar, Majestic, Chickpet, City Market and Kalasipalyam remained closed.

Industrial production in Bangalore came to a halt with almost all the small-scale and medium-scale units in Peenya closing for the day. Industrial estates in Rajajinagar, Kamakshipalya, KR Puram and Mahadevapura had downed their shutters. All public sector undertakings and major private industries did not open as their employees' union had pledged support to the bandh call.

Shops at the vegetable and fruit market in Gandhi Baazar did business. Road-side eateries, including hundreds of darshinis, did not function. Post offices too remained closed. However, the head post offices provided services with skeletal staff. Wine and arrack shops had downed their shutters.

Police pickets had been posted in front of the Vidhana Soudha, the High Court, Visvesvaraya Towers, General Post Office, Telegraph House, Multistoreyed Building, Bangalore University, University of Agriculture Sciences, the District, City and Civil Courts, Public Utility Building, State and Union Government undertakings, etc. The Vidhana Soudha wore a deserted look as a majority of the secretariat staff stayed away from work.

Pickets of Rapid Action Force had been posted around the Vidhana Soudha, the office of the Commissioner of Police and other industrial, private and public sector installations.

Till Thursday night, 600 persons had been taken into preventive custody even as an uneasy calm prevailed in the City. The City Police had deployed 6,500 personnel besides 40 platoons of the City Armed Reserve, 40 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police and 18 battalions of para-military police.

Sensitive areas had been identified and patrolling intensified. In all, 192 mobiles had been pressed into service.

The Joint Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ajai Kumar Singh, later told presspersons that the bandh would not have passed off peacefully without the cooperation of the people.

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