45-foot-tall flagpole removed by authorities in Koratagere

TUMAKURU: A 45-foot-tall flagpole, which was posing a hindrance to traffic in Koratagere, was removed under tight security and under the cover of darkness by the police on Sunday night.

About 250 police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident and checkpoints had been set up at 10 locations to regulate movement of vehicles. Power supply had also been cut off during the entire operation.

The Kannada flagpole was installed about four years ago. However, Koratagere tahsildar Manjunath said it was causing a hindrance to smooth traffic flow and was even causing accidents. The flagpole was removed in a joint operation involving revenue, police, PWD, Bescom and town panchayat officials, he said.