Mandya: Police lobbed teargas shells to disperse farmers who stoned them in Mandya and arrested some 300 protesters, as the city and four other places in Mandya district remained under curfew for the second day on October 31, a day after it was imposed following violence over release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Police said a group of protesters stoned a jeep on city outskirts and attacked them at a locality but the overall situation was under control and curfew was relaxed for two hours in Mandya to enable the people to buy essentials.

An undercurrent of tension prevailed in the city, a day after angry farmers fought pitched battle with police on October 30 and went on a rampage, forcing the authorities to bring it under curfew for three days along with four other towns.

The police, aided by the Rapid Action Force (RAF), kept a close vigil on the situation, as the water continued to flow to Tamil Nadu from Krishna Raj Sagar (KRS) reservoir in Mandya district which has been turned into a virtual impregnable fortress by police.

At Torekadanahalli, police arrested 23 farmers who threatened to damage the Cauvery water supply pipe to Bangalore. Some 200 persons were arrested at Pandavapura, Srirangapatna and K R Pet, police said. A farmer on indefinite hunger strike was hospitalised at Gejjalagere.

About six journalists, including lensmen, have complained to the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Subash Bharani that they were "brutally" beaten up by the police, which had left them injured.

PTI