Late on Sunday night, some youth allegedly tried to clear the barricades put up at Padarayanapura, which has been sealed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, triggering violence.

The youth were spurred by rumours of people being taken away from the area for quarantine.

BBMP officials told The Hindu that secondary contacts have been identified in Padarayanapura that has already been sealed by the civic body. Civic officials had shifted one batch of the secondary contacts to the hotels identified for quarantine purpose. “While one batch was shifted, shifting of the second batch got delayed. The residents expressed apprehension and later agreed to be shifted on Monday morning,” the official said.

The official added that usually the secondary contacts are put on home-based quarantine. “However, considering that the area is densely populated and taking into account that the secondary contacts may not follow the home-based quarantine rules strictly, it was decided to shift them to hotels,” the official added.

Additional police personnel were posted in the area to enforce law and order. The local councillor, Imran Pasha, was unavailable for comment.