Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Apr 21: Some residents of Padarayanapura, on the condition of anonymity, said that the officials suddenly approached them with instruction to accompany them as a woman residing in their locality had died of coronavirus infection, and the region has many people who are infected with the coronavirus. They said they were shocked and taken aback at the sudden instruction to leave home and accompany the officials. "If we suddenly leave, who will look after our family members? We are daily wage earners. We were ready for quarantine but we needed some time," they explained.

They said that since the last 20 days they were locked inside their homes, and a few from here had been quarantined last week. How can we go if we are told at night suddenly to accompany the officials? This naturally gave rise to a sense of fear among us. If we go, who will take the responsibilities of our families? Why no assurances were made on this count?" a resident of Arafat Nagar wanted to know.

A Padarayanapura 11th cross resident said they did not have information where they would be taken. "Some said we would be kept in a hotel near the city market, while some said Haj Bhavan or Rajiv Gandhi Hospital. We developed cold feet when we were suddenly asked to leave our homes," he added.

Some people said that no one attacked the health department officials and the police. They said that some youngsters had purposefully damaged some things and there was no plan behind the act. They confirmed that no one knew that the area would witness vandalism.

Nawaz from Padarayanapura said that many who were present during the commotion condemned the incident. He said that some local Muslims captured video clips of youngsters engaged in destruction on phones and provided the footage to the police. He blamed some media for giving communal hue to the incident.