The dawn-to-dusk shut down strike called in Tamil Nadu by various organisations representing farmers, traders, transporters and others evoked a good response and ended peacefully yesterday.
Meanwhile, a man who had set himself on fire on Thursday to protest Karnataka’s attitude to water-sharing succumbed to his injuries yesterday.
A majority of the shops, private schools, transport services like auto-rickshaws and private buses, and fuel outlets did not function in support of the shutdown, called to demand Cauvery river water and protest against attacks on Tamils and their property in Karnataka.
Several buses and trucks from Tamil Nadu were burnt by the hooligans in Karnataka over Supreme Court’s order to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu a few days ago. There were also incidents of Tamil Nadu truck drivers humiliated and assaulted by the demonstrators in Karnataka.
Police took into custody leaders and cadres of the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and other parties who tried to stage demonstrations on railway tracks and roads. Across the state, several thousands belonging different organisations were detained.
Normally-crowded places like bus stands, commercial centres and roads wore a deserted look across the state even as a large number of policemen were deployed outside the stands, railway stations and other places.
While public transports, government offices, schools, colleges, banks and others carried on with their routine, a majority of shops remained closed across the state.
Many private schools also declared a holiday while majority of auto-rickshaws, taxis and private buses remained off the roads.

Patient smuggled across state border
Doctors in Karnataka smuggled a patient across state borders under the cover of darkness to receive a liver transplant after police said violent protests would make a journey by ambulance too dangerous. Police halted traffic between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka after protesters began rioting and torching vehicles. The move forced doctors at a Karnataka hospital to come up with an alternative plan after a liver for transplant became available for their patient at a hospital in Tamil Nadu. Arikichenin Olithselvan, a doctor at the Manipal Hospital in Karnataka, said they had to ditch their ambulance and wheel the 55-year-old man across the border before finding a local ambulance to ferry him on to the hospital where the operation would take place.