Kannada Rakshana Vedike activists extended their violent activities to Cantonment railway station on Thursday morning causing extensive damage at the counter on platform one (Vasantnagar side) and forcing the closure of the computerised reservation counter all day. The closure will continue for a few more days, railway sources said.
Around 15 activists of the Vedike lined up in a queue under the guise of buying tickets at the station counter around 10.45 a.m. They had stones hidden on their person while a few were carrying helmets in their hands, railway sources said. Fifteen minutes later they started smashing the glass window panes and the tubelights from the outer side of the counter. In the melee that ensued, one woman counter clerk was injured in her eye, a male clerk was injured on his hand and a police official was also injured. They did not enter the interiors of the counter section and so money collected was safe.

The unreserved ticketing counter on the Jayamahal side is functioning as usual. An official release said that the computerised reservation office had been closed after the incident and will remain closed till restoration work is completed. “This may take between a week and ten days,” a railway source said.

Meanwhile, the Cottonpet police arrested three KRV activists-Basavaraj Padukote, Raja and Prakash- in connection with the attack on DRM’s office on Wednesday.