Uttara Kannada district peaceful

Police continue to keep vigil in violence-hit towns; they urge people not to pay heed to rumours

The day after: While it was business as usual for many in Sirsi on Wednesday, business establishments in localities that had witnessed violence remained closed.

With no fresh case of violence reported on Wednesday, the situation in Uttara Kannada district seems to be slowly returning to normality. A large posse of police personnel, however, continue to keep vigil in the violence-hit towns of the district.

While Honnavar seems to have returned to normality, the situation in Kumta and Sirsi, which witnessed violence on Monday and Tuesday, continues to be grim but under control, according to the authorities.

While public transport services have resumed in Sirsi and Kumta, several shops and commercial establishments were functioning normally. In areas where shops were damaged by troublemakers, shopkeepers had not opened their establishments. Rumour mills kept the police on their toes, while most of the residents especially in the bigger towns and cities of the district avoided venturing out.

In the wake of reports about a call for Murdeshwar bandh and possible protests in Bhatkal, Deputy Commissioner of Uttara Kannada S.S. Nakul, Superintendent of Police Vinayak Patil and other senior officials visited the two places and security was strengthened their.

Mr. Nakul told presspersons in Bhatkal that those spreading false news on social media would be dealt with strictly. He appealed to the people of the district not to pay heed to rumours.

Mr. Patil told The Hindu over the phone that situation was under control and they were in the process of making more arrests in connection with Tuesday’s riots.

At a press conference in Sirsi on Wednesday, the former Minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri blamed the Police Department for the violence in the town on Tuesday. He alleged that the Police Department was acting at the behest of the State government by registering cases under Section 307 of IPC (attempt to murder). Mr. Kageri urged the Police Department to drop all the charges against the protesters who have been arrested and release them immediately.

He said the police lathi-charge was the reason for violence and claimed that members of the BJP and Hindutva outfits had no intention of causing law and order problem.