Tamil film shows disrupted, TN vehicles targeted

Activists targeted theatres screening Tamil movies and vehicles bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers in various parts of the state on Monday. 

Members of a pro-Kannada group stopped the screening of the Telugu version of the Tamil movie ‘Iru Murugan’ at Shivali theatre in Davangere. They also stopped the airing of Tamil channels in the city and other parts of the district. The police tightened security on all highways and in areas populated by Tamils.

Members of a few Kannada groups threw stones on lorries bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers on National Highway-4 in Chitradurga. Police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Kannada activists tore posters of the Tamil movie ‘Kabali’ at Lingsugur in Raichur district. The police arrested a few of them and released them later.

Activists of pro-Kannada groups broke furniture at the branch of the Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank in Yadgir. They were protesting against the attacks on Kannadigas in the neighbouring state.

Activists staged a protest at Gabbur Cross on NH-4 on the outskirts of Hubballi and broke the windshields of two lorries bearing Tamil Nadu registration numbers.

Staging a rasta roko, the protesters burnt a portrait of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha. Two lorries with TN registration numbers were stopped and their windshields were broken.

The police rushed to the spot and dispersed the mob.

In Dharwad too, activists stopped a few TN-registered lorries at Narendra Cross on the bypass road and broke their windshields. Barring these incidents, the situation was peaceful in the twin cities.

Members of pro-Kannada organisations blocked the National Highway linking Hubballi and Vijayapura at Nargund in Gadag district. Protestors threw stones at TN lorries at the Shivaji Circle. Police arrived at the spot to control the situation.

In Shivamogga, the activists of Nava Karnataka Nirmana Vedike forcibly closed government Tamil high school at Milaghatta in the town. Vedike president Go Ramesh Gowda said that they would not allow the school to function until the row over Cauvery water was resolved.

“The chief minister of Tamil Nadu has meted out injustice to people of the state. Under such circumstance, how could we allow the functioning of Tamil school,” he said.

Activists of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike forced the closure of PSR silk sarees shop situated on Kuvempu Road. They also staged a protest in front of the shop and raised slogans against Tamil Nadu.