Four people have been arrested in connection with sexual assaults on women during New Year's eve revelry in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, the minister in charge of law and order said Thursday. "Bangalore is a modern city, we will make it safer," Karnataka state Home Minister G Parameshwar said at a press briefing. There was widespread outrage after female partygoers complained they were groped and assaulted by a mob of men on MG Road in the city centre. Capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, Bangalore and its suburbs house headquarters of several major information technology firms and the city is home to large numbers of young working people. Once a sleepy city, today Bangalore is home to 9.5 million people and has seen population growth of over 46 per cent over the last decade with infrastructure and services, including policing, failing to keep up. In response to the reported abuse on New Year's Eve, Parameshwar announced a slew of measures including additional streetlights, new closed circuit television cameras and additional emergency telephone lines to police - all to be put in place within two months. "While this incident was very unfortunate, there was a police presence. Many women were shielded by policemen but the police was outnumbered," the minister said. "The Bangalore Police is working round the clock going through the footage of all CCTV cameras and following all leads," Parameshwar said. The police had initially said they had no complaints or evidence of molestation of women on New Year's eve. They later detained over 15 men for questioning. "Four accused have been arrested," Parameshwar said.
