Vedike targets ‘Dina Thanthi’

Vedike targets ‘Dina Thanthi’

Special Correspondent

“Anti-Tamil Nadu” slogans painted on 12

T.N.-owned ultra-deluxe buses and an AC bus

More security provided at residence of Karunanidhi’s daughter, Selvi

BANGALORE: The ongoing protests against Tamil Nadu’s decision to take up the drinking water project at Hogenakkal took a new turn on Wednesday with the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike activists attempting to storm the Bangalore office of a leading Tamil daily and pressuring the staff to stop printing their newspaper in Karnataka.

The police said that around 11.45 a.m. about 100 activists belonging to the T.A. Narayana Gowda faction of the vedike staged a demonstration in front of the Dina Thanthi office on Dr. Rajkumar Road in 6th Block, Rajajinagar, and daubed black paint on the Tamil signboard.

When the protesters tried to barge into the office, the police barred them, but permitted a delegation of their leaders to meet the staff at the newspaper office. The vedike leaders urged the staff to stop printing the newspaper in Karnataka until the Hogenakkal issue was sorted out.

The protesters dispersed after a senior journalist, who was alone at the office, told them that he would bring the matter to the notice of the management. Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) P. Harisekharan said no violent incidents were reported during the demonstration.

In another incident, a group of Kannada activists barged into the inter-State bus terminus at the Kempe Gowda bus station and daubed black paint on windscreens and number plates of a dozen buses belonging to Tamil Nadu State Express Transport Corporation (TNSETC).

A TNSETC official said the protestors painted “anti-Tamil Nadu” slogans on 12 ultra-deluxe buses and an air-conditioned bus. However, no damage was done to the buses, he said.
Increasing protests

In view of the increasing protests, the police have heightened security at the Bangalore residence of Selvi, daughter of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.