Bengaluru: Metro services suspended after employees protest

Bengaluru: City Metro services were temporarily suspended on Friday as employees staged a protest over alleged manhandling and arrest of two Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited officials after a scuffle with security personnel. As many as four lakh commuters were stranded when they found all stations had been closed, police said. "Train service temporally stopped," Bangalore Metro's Twitter handle said.

The services were resumed later after negotiations with police and BMRCL officials who prevailed upon the employees to withdraw the protest, officials said. BMRCL employees were demanding the release of two of their officials arrested yesterday when they got into a scuffle with Karnataka State Industrial Security Force (KSISF) personnel deployed at a station here. The Metro employees and KSISF personnel reportedly exchanged fisticuffs and abuses over a row on security checks at Sir M Visveswaraya Central College station.

The employees resorted to protests after talks between KSISF and Namma Metro officials to resolve the matter failed. The talks took place at 4 am on Friday , police said. Two KSISF constables also have been arrested after Metro officials lodged a complaint with police. Speaking to reporters, Metro officials alleged that some of their officials were attacked by KSISF personnel yesterday. Security was beefed up at Metro stations recently because of protests over three-language rule and the use of Hindi in signboards and announcements.

A #NammaMetroHindiBeda - "Our Metro, We don't want Hindi" - campaign on social media has erupted into a major controversy as pro-Kannada groups threatened to blacken signs and vandalise stations if Hindi was not dropped. Earlier this week, signs at some stations were masked to cover up the Hindi portions.

The pro-Kannada groups call enforcement of three-language rule by the central government as an imposition and an attempt to promote Hindi at the cost of regional languages.