Riot police patrol riot-hit areas of Bangalore, 12-year-old dies

Armed policemen patrolled the communally sensitive areas of Bangalore yesterday in a bid to restore calm in the City after a flare-up of religious frenzy on Sunday evening left a twelve-year-old boy dead and three others injured in police firing.

Commandos from the elite Rapid Action Force (RAF) were deployed in Bharathinagar and Shivajinagar areas of Bangalore, which had been caught in communal frenzy after a procession organized as part of Virat Hindu Samavesha on Sunday turned violent, leading to arson, looting and stabbing.

Though the situation remained calm yesterday, simmering tension forced the police to remain on their toes. Flag marches were also staged in the riot-hit areas yesterday to instill a sense of confidence in the people and the authorities expressed confidence of peace returning to the City.

Police confirmed the death of a twelve-year-old boy in the police firing at Russel Market area of Bangalore. The dead body of the boy, who had received three bullet wounds, is lying at the mortuary at Bowring Hospital in Bangalore. The identity of the boy is yet to be ascertained as nobody had come to claim the dead body, police said.

Three others, who had received bullet injuries, were recovering at the Hospital. “The bullets have been removed and they are recovering” according to doctors at Bowring Hospital.

More than a hundred persons including eight policemen sufferred injuries in the communal violence that erupted in communally sensitive areas of Bangalore on Sunday evening when a splinter group of the procession organized as part of the Virat Hindu Samavesha turned violent.

Several people with fractures and head injuries were undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Bangalore. A constable, whose throat had been slashed by a sharp weapon, was also reported to be recovering at Bowring Hospital.

Karnataka’s Home Minister M P Prakash visited Bowring Hospital yesterday, where several persons injured in the communal violence were undergoing treatment. Speaking to reporters, Prakash appealed for calm and warned trouble-makers with exemplary punishment.

The night curfew imposed in eight police station limits of Bangalore including the worst-hit areas of Shivajinagar, Bharathinagar and Ulsoor was withdrawn from yesterday morning till 7 pm. Police officials said night curfew will be re-imposed in the affected areas.

Schools and Colleges in the communal riot-torn areas of Bangalore remained closed yesterday. Prohibitory orders banning the assembly of four or more persons remained in force. Movement of traffic even on the arterial roads of the area had been reduced to a trickle.

Soon after trouble was started by the groups of persons on the way to Virata Hindu Samavesha on Sunday evening, apparently in retaliation to Friday’s incidents in the same area when youths on the way to attend a demonstration to condemn the hanging of ousted Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein, pitched battles were fought between rival groups in Shivajinagar, Seppings Road, Thimmaiah Road and Bamboo Bazaar.

More than 50 shops and business establishments in the areas were either burnt down or damaged. At least eleven Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses, twenty two-wheelers, twelve cars and six autorickshaws were burnt down during the violence.

Rampaging mobs were found flagging down vehicles and setting them afire after inquiring about the religious identity of the driver. Many vehicle drivers were even assaulted during the violence.