Veil lifts off controversy today

BANGALORE: It���s been 18 years in the waiting. Today, B S Yeddyurappa unveils the statue of Thiruvalluvar here on Sunday morning, but the spectre of violent protest doggedly shadows the event.
Several pro-Kannada organisations have threatened to bring the city to a halt during its dawn-to-dusk Bangalore bandh, but the police are confident of keeping troublemakers at bay.On Saturday, there was heavy security near the statue with police taking up positions.
When the police tried to take Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) president Praveen Kumar Shetty and others into preventive custody on Saturday, Jagadish Gowda, 38, tried to consume poison near Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. Police first admitted him to Mallige Hospital and later took him into preventive custody.
Praveen Kumar Shetty and associates held protest marches in Doddaballapur on Saturday. By evening, they returned to the city and went to KCP.
Around 11.30 am, KRV activists deflated the tyres of around seven vehicles near Peenya on Tumkur Road. Chaos prevailed for an hour after these vehicles blocked the movement of other vehicles.
After the arrest of KRV leader Narayana Gowda on Friday night, Vatal Nagaraj was taken into preventive custody in Channarayapatna on Saturday.