State BJP president KS Eshwarappa called for a Karnataka Bandh on Saturday after the BJP learned about the governor HR Bhardwaj’s move, but BJP supporters began protesting on Friday itself, with widespread damage to public property in Bangalore and across the state.
Late on Friday night, miscreants set fire to a private bus at GNR Kalyana Mantap (marriage hall) in Jayanagar 6th Block. They also set fire to a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus in the depot. Meanwhile, two buses were gutted after alleged BJP workers set it on fire in Nandini Layout and Electronics City.
Also, two trucks, including one belonging to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), were burnt by protestors. Fire and emergency department officials said that one lorry in Basaveshwaranagar and another BBMP-owned truck at Dasarahalli, Magadi Road, were gutted.
Fire tenders rushed to the spot and doused the fire. “In total, four buses, including a private bus and two trucks, were set on fire,” said a senior fire and emergency service department official.
Meanwhile, BJP supporters set tyres on fire to stop vehicular movement at junctions. Many roads in Jayanagar, JP Nagar, Yeshwantpur, Yelahanka, RT Nagar, Ramamurthy Nagar, KR Puram, Electronics City, were blocked by burning tyres. The police nabbed a few miscreants while the latter were trying to set a BMTC bus on fire.
There were many incidents of stone-pelting and those commercial establishments that dared to function on Saturday came under fire.
Not just shops, more than 30 BMTC buses were damaged due to stone-pelting. Nearly 12 buses from the Yeshwantpur depot were damaged; three buses each at KHB Colony, Shivajinagar and Mattikere were damaged. Six buses in CK Achukattu, two buses in Vijayanagar and two at Kengeri, were also damaged.
Shops and commercial establishments were closed on Saturday. Shop-owners decided to play it safe to avoid any loss to their business. Those shop-owners who did open their shops early on Saturday morning were forced to shut shop by alleged BJP workers.
The police, however, could not prevent these miscreants in many places, including KR Market, Gandhinagar, etc.
