Police resorted to lathicharge on BJP supporters and activists in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) who had gathered near SNR Circle in Kolar on Saturday.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at SNR Circle to take out a procession to MG Road where a public meeting was organised under the banner of the Bharatiya Nagarikara Rakshana Vedike in support of the CAA and NRC.
Police resorted to lathicharge when protesters tried to divert the procession from MG Road and attempted to go to Clock Tower in Kolar instead.
Kolar SP Karthick Reddy asked the protesters to gather on MG Road where the planned meeting was scheduled to begin. But when protesters resisted and made attempts to force their way to Clock Tower, police resorted to lathi-charge.
"Clock Tower area in Kolar town is a Muslim community area and the BJP protesters were adamant that they want to go there. We decided to lathi-charge and stop the protesters from going towards the Clock Tower," a police official in Kolar told TNM.
After the lathicharge, additional police personnel were deployed in Kolar to ensure that protests took place peacefully.
The planned protest at MG Road was attended by BJP State President Nalin Kumar Kateel, Revenue Minister R Ashok, Party General Secretary Muralidhar Rao, among others. Thousands of BJP supporters gathered in front of a stage set up in the area to register their support of the CAA. Pro-CAA protests in other parts of the state have been held peacefully so far.