Violence spreads across Bengaluru

PF stir: Man critical; girl hurt in police firing

 Two people were injured after police opened fire to quell the protests by garment factory workers which turned violent for the second consecutive day here on Tuesday.

A 44-year-old marketing manager with a courier firm, Manjunathappa, suffered grievous injury on his left chest when the police opened fire near Bommasandra. His condition is said to be critical.

A 19-year-old BCom student, Preethi Ninge Gowda, was injured on the right thigh when police opened fire near Hebbugodi.

Traffic on three major entry points to the city– from Mysuru, Tumakuru and Hosur–came to a grinding halt after nearly 1.25 lakh garment workers took to the streets against the Centre’s new rule on provident fund withdrawal.

At Peenya, Jalahalli, Hebbugodi and Bommanahalli, the epicentre’s of Tuesday’s protests, the police first fired tear gas shells and then fired rubber bullets. But as the situation seemed to be going out of control, they resorted to firing in the air and then below the knee.

The police have not ruled out the possibility of anti-socials joining protesters in Peenya and Jalahalli, and have clamped prohibitory orders for three days in all trouble-hit areas.

So far, 116 people have been arrested and 38 cases have been registered. “More arrests are likely after analysing videos,” said Bengaluru City Police Commissioner N S Megharikh.
Two companies of the Rapid Action Force have been called in from Coimbatore to provide additional security.