India's technology hub of Bengaluru has deployed riot police to rein in protests as a water dispute turned violent, with cars and buses set of fire and people pelted with stones.
Television footage showed flames pouring from burnt-out vehicles as angry crowds gathered nearby, while police said the local metro network had been temporarily suspended.
The violence erupted after India's Supreme Court ordered Karnataka state, where Bengaluru is based, to release 12,000 cubic feet of water per second every day from the Cauvery river to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
The river has been the source of more than a century of tension between the states, and the anger has previously turned violent - in 1991 an interim court order telling Karnataka to release water to Tamil Nadu sparked riots against Tamils in Bengaluru, leaving more than 18 people dead.
Bengaluru is home to top Indian IT companies such as Infosys Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Mphasis as well has offices of several multinational companies like Samsung Electronics.
