Supreme Court on 15 September had taken Karnataka and Tamilnadu governments to task for failing to check violence following its order on the Cauvery dispute, asserting that its verdict “has to be complied with” and violent agitation would serve no objective as those aggrieved were free to take legal recourse. C Bhagya emerged in the CCTV footage from the yard where the buses were parked as well as in the mobile phone videos filmed by the crew. For Bhagya, they are nearly certain.
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Meanwhile, the mother of Bhagya, Yellamma has confirmed that her daughter was offered Rs 100 and a plate of mutton biryani for joining the Cauvery protests. She is the only woman among the 400-odd people arrested in connection with the September 12 violence in Bengaluru. Police suspected Bhagya to be the agent provocateur. “As of now, we can say she was one of the arsonists”, a senior police officer informed. She is a daily wager and stays with her parents in Girinagar near KPN Garage.
Officials of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation and Police department said, to avert any untoward incident, operation of buses and lorries had been stopped.
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The Supreme Court had on September 5 asked Tamil Nadu to approach the committee, headed by Union Water Resources Ministry Secretary Shashi Shekhar, over the issue. While Karnataka is pleading its inability to release any more water, Tamil Nadu is pressing for release of more water in accordance with the final award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. A holiday has been declared on Monday for schools and colleges in many parts of Mandya district, anticipating protests if the state is asked to release more water. When Karnataka appealed against the order and sought its modification on September 11, the court asked the state to release a reduced quantum of 12,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu till September 20.
