Families of those who have been arrested insist they can't have been part of mobs in Bengaluru protests
Highlights
- Hundreds of men have been arrested for arson, vandalism in Bengaluru.
- Many among them are corporation workers, drivers and porters.
- Their families insist they are innocent, and cannot have been part of it.
Crouched on the floor of a police station in the suburbs of Bengaluru on Wednesday evening were men picked up by the police for alleged involvement in the violence on Monday that held much of the Karnataka capital to ransom.
Hundreds of men have been arrested for arson and vandalism on the streets of Bengaluru after the Supreme Court announced a ruling that meant that Karnataka would have to release more water to Tamil Nadu than asked to in an earlier order a week ago.
Many among them are corporation workers, drivers and porters. Their families insist they are innocent, and cannot have been part of the mobs seen setting fire to Tamil Nadu-registered buses, cars and vandalising shops.
The police rounded up the men in an area near Mysuru Road that was worst hit by the violence. Across the busy, narrow road outside the police station, a little crowd of relatives edged closer for a look at the arrested men.
There was worry and tears. One woman wept as she told NDTV that her husband had been picked up and she did not know why. "His arm is injured. He sometimes gets chest pain. What will happen to him?" she wondered.
Another woman, Fatima, said her husband Anwar Pasha, a civic worker, had been taken away by the police a couple of hours earlier.
Meena was waiting for her husband, Parthiban, who is also a municipal worker. Meena and Parthiban were born and raised in Bengaluru but their families are from Tamil Nadu. Meena said she could not believe that her husband could be involved in the violence. "He goes to work, comes home and sleeps," said the mother of three.
A man was waiting for news of his brother, a driver. Another arrested man works as a porter.
Most people insisted their arrested family members are not part of any group or organisation that might have been behind the violence.
Karnataka's Home Minister G Parameshwara said: "Police are verifying if they belong to any organisation or if they are individuals. Whatever their background, we have taken seriously and booked cases against them. We will not spare anybody."
As the police bus arrived to take the accused men to a magistrate, the anxious family members were chased away but they soon returned. It began to rain, but they still waited.