Karnataka suspends bus services to Maha owing to protests over border row

The North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) suspended its services to Maharashtra after reports emerged of some buses being defaced and damaged in the regions bordering Belagavi district.

Both states have voiced out concerns regarding Belagavi with Maharashtra staking claim that the region should be merged with it while Karnataka has reiterated its jurisdiction over the area.

We are operating our buses only up to Nipani (in Belagavi district) due to tension, which has been there since morning, an officer in the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation told PTI.

According to him, a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus that was coming from Maharashtra to Ranebennur was also damaged. The glasses of the bus were damaged. Other than this incident, some buses were defaced, the officer added.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike again held agitations in the border regions following the defacement of buses. The activists said that they will also retaliate with similar vigour if the buses were targeted.