The Tipu Jayanti celebration in Madikeri town concluded with no major untoward incident reported from Kodagu district save for a stray instance of stone throwing.
Deputy Commissioner Richard Vincent D’Souza said the situation in Kodagu stayed peaceful. However, one incident of stone pelting was reported in which the window panes of a KSRTC bus was damaged and two trees were felled to create a road blockade. However, the police reached the spot and cleared the road.
At the official programme held at the Old Assembly Hall in the Fort, BJP MLA Appachu Ranjan and MLC Sunil Subramani who were present, raised their opposition to the event.
Mr. Subramani condemned the government’s decision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti. This was countered by Congress supporters. The police intervened and took the two BJP leaders into custody along with their supporters and they were evicted from the venue.
The BJP, VHP and other organisations have strongly opposed the celebrations and conducted special prayers in memory of the victim of the 2015 violence; and had called for a Kodagu bandh in protest against Tipu Jayanti. Business establishments were shut and private buses were off the roads as a result.
Security had been tightened across the district ahead of Tipu Jayanti in view of the large scale communal violence in 2015 against the event in which one person was killed. Meanwhile, prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been imposed in the district and will remain in force till 6 a.m. on Saturday.
All check posts leading to the district have been fortified and are being monitored with 44 CCTV cameras. Sectoral magistrates have been deployed at the hobli .
More than 1,500 additional constables apart from KSRP and DAR platoons have been deployed besides the Rapid Action Force given the sensitivity of the issue in the district.
