Mullaperiyar Dam Row: Police escort car to TN border after bus in Kerala is attacked

KRISHNAGIRI (TN): On Friday, police escorted a bus operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) until it reached the border between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in Hosur. The event occurred in the early hours of this morning when the bus traveled through the Melumalai ghat portion between Hosur and Soolagiri town, according to the police. The attack damaged the bus’s glasses as it was traveling from Kerala to Bangalore, and the driver stopped the transport after passengers raised an alert. Even as the Mullaperiyar dam dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu has intensified, vandalism and minor acts of violence against Keralites and the businesses they own have been reported in the state. Tamil Nadu devotees of Sabarimala have reportedly been the focus of attacks against Tamils in Kerala. While Tamil Nadu has accused Kerala of inciting a “fear psychosis” and has maintained that worries over the dam’s safety are unjustified, Kerala has demanded a new dam be built in lieu of the 116-year-old reservoir citing safety concerns over the condition of the dam. Police officers sped over to the scene of the alleged attack, but the bus’s passengers told them they were unable to move on because they believed the vehicle may be attacked once more before it reached the Tamil Nadu border. The bus was then escorted by police until it reached Hosur’s state boundary. Following this event, the Krishnagiri district police have been providing escort for Kerala buses leaving from this toll gate and traveling through Hosur to reach Bangalore.