Days after the city burst out in violent protest over the Cauvery dispute, a TOI report by Arpita Raj has stated that over 2.7 lakh litres of water was used to douse the fire on more than 30 trucks across the city. Fire tenders from neighbouring districts, Tumakuru and Chikkaballapur were called in as Bengaluru’s 50 fire trucks were insufficient to mitigate the situation, the report added.
Deputy inspector general, Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services, HS Revanna said, “As part of our special bandobust, we had 10 fire tenders, bouzers (fire trucks with 16,000 litre capacity) and officers stationed in places such as Nagarbhavi, Hebbal, Yelahanka among others.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday transferred two top cops for failing to anticipate the situation and take preventive action.
The CM asked DCP (north) TR Suresh and DCP(west) Ajay Hilori to be moved out.
A Bangalore Mirror report quotes business-owners and resident of these zone saying that there were no senior officers at the time when violence broke out.
Owner of Sri Krishna Saw Mills and Wood Works said, “When we closed and left in the afternoon, barely any policemen were seen in the area, or on Mysore Road. I can say that for every 100 protesters, there were only two policemen. What can they do.”
“Both the officers (Suresh and Hilori) should have anticipated the situation and taken preventive measures,” a source told TOI.
TOI reported that Anti-Corruption Bureau SP, Labhu Ram has been posted as DCP (north), Chitradurga SP MN Anucheth will take charge as DCP (west).