Nearly 400 arrested for looting, vandalism in India's IT hub

Published September 13, 2016
Police personnel take a miscreant into custody during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP
Police personnel take a miscreant into custody during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP

NEW DELHI: Police arrested nearly 400 people for looting and vandalism in India's information technology hub of Bangalore after a curfew was imposed to quell violence set off by a court ruling over a disputed water source, a police officer said Tuesday.

An armoured police car patrols during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP
An armoured police car patrols during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP

Police gunfire killed one protester and injured another on Monday night after rampaging mobs set fire to dozens of buses, trucks and cars and attacked shops and businesses in Bangalore and other parts of the state.

Top police officer NS Megarikh said there has been no major incident after the imposition of curfew in parts of the city on Monday night. Protesters set some trucks on fire in rural areas of the state on Tuesday.

A police personnel canes a motorcyclist during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP
A police personnel canes a motorcyclist during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP

The Cauvery River, which originates in Karnataka and flows into Tamil Nadu, has been the source of a bitter water dispute for decades.

India's top court last week ordered Karnataka state to release water downriver to Tamil Nadu state.

Karnataka's top elected official Siddaramaiah said on Tuesday he was bound by the court ruling, but there was not enough water to share. Siddaramaiah uses one name.

Police personnel patrol during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP
Police personnel patrol during a curfew following violence in the city due to the Cauvery water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP

Thousands of policemen patrolled the streets of Bangalore. All schools, shops and businesses were closed and no public transport, including metro rail, was available to the residents.

Bangalore is home to several top Indian IT and multinational companies such as Infosys Ltd., Wipro Ltd and Samsung Electronics. In May this year, Apple announced it was setting up an app design and development center in the city.

Farmers in India are largely dependent on monsoon rains and rivers to irrigate their crops. But successive poor monsoons have depleted rivers and reservoirs.

The skeletal remains of several buses belonging to a private travel company are parked in the yard after being set on fire by an angry mob during violence due to the Cauvery water dispute, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP
The skeletal remains of several buses belonging to a private travel company are parked in the yard after being set on fire by an angry mob during violence due to the Cauvery water dispute, in Bangalore on September 13, 2016. ─ AFP

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