Karnataka braces for Ayodhya verdict

Bangalore, Sep 30: With Karnataka being declared as one of the sensitive states ahead of the Ayodhya verdict, the hustle-bustle of the silicon city was much lower than usual on Thursday, Sep 30 morning.

As school and college students stayed at home in view of the holidays declared by the state government, the traffic was much thinner in Bangalore.

Even though Police Commissioner Shankar M Bidari assured that the common man, business establishments, shopping malls, movie theatres, private companies, and IT companies can carry on with their normal routine, several companies have declared a half day.

"We will be working half day tomorrow," a spokesperson of IT firm Wipro was quoted as saying in a news agency report.

While few companies chose to change the working hours by starting early and closing early, the IT giant, Infosys on Wednesday, Sep 29 evening announced that the Bangalore office will be shut on Thursday, Sep 30.

Cognizant and Mind Tree will be operating as usual on Thursday, Sep 30.

Security has been intensified not only in Bangalore but across the state. In the capital, over 18,000 police personnel in addition with civil police, PAC, and Rapid Action Force have been deployed.

Heavy security arrangements have also been made at the Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli.

The Karnataka government had earlier on Sep 28 announced 48-hour prohibitory orders from Sep 30 across the state, besides declaring two days holiday to educational institutions ahead of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the six decade long Ram Temple-Babri Masjid land dispute.

These precautionary measures came after the Centre identified Karnataka as one of the sensitive states along with Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.