Valentine’s Day very peaceful in Mangalore

16-02-09 Valentine’s Day on Saturday was largely peaceful in Mangalore, barring a minor incident in a Belgaum tech firm. Couples in love across the State may have gazed into each other’s eyes but they also kept an eye on Mangalore, which has been witnessing moral policing by vigilantes, with tragic consequences.

In Belgaum, where things were quiet till the evening, a group of miscreants attacked the staff of Katwa Infotech Limited at Karbargalli on the outskirts of the city under Vadgaon police station limits. The staff were holding a private party with some of their family members in attendance when a group of about 20 to 25 youths barged in accompanied by some media persons. They ransacked the hall and threatened the staff, Additional Superintendent of Police U.R. Pangam said. By the time police arrived, they had fled, shouting slogans in the name of Sri Rama, Mr. Pangam said. In Mangalore, most couples chose either to remain indoors or visit their favourite restaurants, staying away from parks, malls and open public places. The Sri Rama Sene activists too remained off the streets. The local sene office at Attavar received a bunch of pink gifts (20 in number), but the office-bearers were not pleased with the quality. They will be auctioned and the proceeds sent back to the mailers, they announced. Posters with a Valentine’s Day theme that poked fun at some Cabinet Ministers appeared in a few places in the city. Policemen shooed away a couple that had entered the Kadri Park, a favourite spot with the young. In fact, the park became a virtual fortress with four constables and a head constable from Kadri Police Station guarding it from 7 a.m. “We have instructions not to allow any couples in,” said one of them. Elsewhere in the State, 672 people, including 366 in Bangalore, were taken into preventive custody.

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