Prohibitory orders were imposed in the border city for four days as tension mounted during a bandh called by leaders of the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES) and the Shiv Sena to protest against the burning of a saffron flag and an effigy of Mr Bal Thackeray on Sunday.
Official sources shops and business establishments were closed in the main market area, but the day-long bandh did not affect normal life in the rest of the city. Several vehicles, including a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus, were damaged as sporadic incidents of stone-throwing were witnessed in several areas late on Saturday.
On Sunday, Belgaum SP Sonia Narang warned Kannada and Marathi activists not to make inflammatory speeches, move about in groups or force shops and business establishment in violation of prohibitory orders.
Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa condemned the attack on two Kannada activists who were participating in a panel discussion at the office of a television news channel in Kolhapur. “I requested the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter,” he said.