The 48-hour general strike called by national level trade unions was marked by minor incidents of violence in the district on Wednesday. It assumed the proportions of a bandh and was near total on its first day.
At least two Technopark employees were injured when strike supporters pelted their bus with stones near Pattom around 10 a.m. The police identified the injured as Ann Mary and Anju, both Infosys employees. The buses were moving in a convoy with police escort, when strike supporters attacked the vehicles in the middle of the fleet, an official said.
At Ayurveda College junction, the police arrested seven persons who attempted to forcibly close the local branch of a nationalised bank. At Sasthamangalam, the Museum police took four strike supporters under preventive custody.
The police had to be deployed in strength in front of the Technopark campus to prevent a set of strike supporters from blockading its entrance. Incidents of forced closure of government offices, banks and other public facilities were reported from the district. District Police Chief A.J. Thomaskutty said the strike was peaceful in the rural district.
Private and State-owned transport buses, autorickshaws, and taxis remained off the road. Two wheelers plied as usual. An increasing number of cars were seen on the road after 11 a.m. Many vehicles had “emergency” scribbled on papers stuck on the inside of their windscreens to escape the wrath of strike supporters.
The police operated vehicles, including their own, on convoy to transport passengers from the railway station and airport to various destinations in the district.
Striking government employees caused service delivery to the public to come to a standstill in all government offices and public facilities in the district. Even State-run fuel and liquor outlets remained closed.
