Bangalore: The office of Kannada newspaper Kannada Prabha in Mangalore was burnt down by a mob on Tuesday night for publishing an anti-burqa allegedly written by controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.
Police say a group of 30 people came to the office of Kannada Prabha in Mangalore, vandalised the office, broke furniture and accessories.
The mob then set the office on fire and fled.
"The Kannada Prabha office was ransacked by unidentified people. They threw a kerosene bottle in the office which led to the fire. There have been no injuries but office and property have been damaged. The office was ransacked at 2115 hrs IST today (Tuesday)," said Mangalore SP Dr Subramanyeshwara Rao.
The Mangalore office of another Kannada newspaper Jaya Kirana was also attacked.
"Unidentified people threw stones on the office and broke the computers. There have been no reports of anyone sustaining any injuries," said Rao.
Karnataka Police have increased security to all the offices of Kannada Prabha across the state. Security has also been given to the journalists of the newspaper across Karnataka
Kannada Prabha had published the article in its Sunday supplement on February 28 claiming that the article was reproduced from a book written by Taslima Nasreen.
But Taslima on Tuesday denied writing any article for a Kannada newspaper.
The article has sparked off violent protests in many parts of Karnataka including Shimoga and Hassan towns.
Two persons died and four others were injured in Shimoga district during violent protests against the article.
One person died when police fired at a mob and another other succumbed to injuries sustained in stone pelting, police said.
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