Tension prevailed at Sheshadripuram on Friday morning when pro-Kannada activist and president of Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha Vatal Nagaraj and his followers staged a protest against the release of Tamil blockbuster Kabali movie in 300 theatres across the state.
The protest by Mr. Vatal Nagaraj and others was scheduled at Mysore Bank Circle. However, at around 11.45 a.m., the group walked towards Sheshadripuram Junction near Nataraj theatre and burnt an effigy representing other language films, along with a few rolls of an old non-Kannada film.
Mr. Vatal Nagraj maintained that the permission to release the movie across the state in such a large scale would affect the other Kannada movies and demanded the state government to give prominence to local language movies.
Several Rajinikant fans, who had gathered at Nataraj theatre to watch Kabali , got wind of the protest and began to walk towards the protest venue, a few metres away. They also raised slogans.
Sensing trouble, the police chased the crowds by resorting to mild lathi charge. The groups of people who were trying to flee from the scene knocked down several bikers, who were stranded. In the melee, two car drivers passing by had a heated arguments and one of them smashed the wind screen of the other car.
The police later detained Mr. Vatal Nagaraj and his supporters and whisked them away from the spot. The situation was brought under control after additional police forces were deployed. Additional police force was deployed in sensitive areas to monitor law and order, a senior police officer said.
