: The day-long State-wide hartal called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in protest against the murder of a party activist in Kannur on Wednesday was total in Kasaragod district.
Barring stray incidents of minor violence, the hartal was by and large peaceful. BJP supporters hurled stones at the UDF- controlled district cooperative bank, located close to the KSRTC depot here, when the bank opened its shutters on Thursday morning.
BJP activists also waylaid private vehicles, including two-wheelers, in party strongholds in the district.
The police had made elaborate security arrangements as Sangh Parivar loyalists took out marches in the town and Kanhangad.
Barring skeleton number of private vehicles, all modes of public transport, including the State Road Transport Corporation buses from Kerala and Karnataka, kept off the road.
Inter-State trucks plying on National Highway 66 suspended their services at the northern Manjeshwaram border check-post till 6 p.m., the police said adding that no major untoward incident was reported from any part of the district.
Banks and other business houses, including shops, downed their shutters crippling commercial activities.
The Collectorate registered thin attendance. Only 149 of 798 Revenue Department employees working with village, tahsildar and sub-collector’s offices reported for duty, a senior Collectorate employee told The Hindu .
‘Fitting reply’
BJP district president K. Sreekanth termed the hartal a befitting reply to the CPI(M)’s “politics of violence.”
The murder of Remith, an RSS loyalist hailing from Pinarayi in Kannur, should be seen as a ploy to “divert” the attention of CPI(M) cadres over the controversial appointment of close relatives of party leaders in top posts in select public sector units, Mr. Sreekanth said addressing a public meeting as part of the BJP protest march.
Stating that the RSS loyalist’s murder was hatched by the top leadership of the Left party, he said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s attitude was an insult to the people of Kerala. The remarks by a senior police officer in Kannur that the force was helpless in safeguarding the life and property of the people was a confession of breakdown in law and order situation, he said.
Hartal total in Wayanad
Staff Reporter adds from Kalpetta: The hartal was total and peaceful in Wayanad district.
Attendance was thin at government offices and financial institutions. Only 23 out of the 169 employees turned up for duty at the Collectorate here, Additional District Magistrate K.M. Raju told The Hindu . Educational institutions, business establishments and shops, except medical shops, remained closed.
While private buses and four-wheelers, including taxis, stayed off the road, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated one service each to Gudalur in Tamil Nadu and Mysore in Karnataka from its Sulthan Bathery depot in the morning with the help of a police convoy, KSRTC sources said.
No hartal–related untoward incidents have been reported in the district, K. Karthik, District Police Chief, said. A long queue of vehicles, including KSRTC buses, was seen on the Kerala-Karnataka as well as Kerala-Tamil Nadu border check- posts at Bavali, Tholpetty, Muthanga and Noolpuzha. Hartal supporters took out protest marches at various places.
Mixed response
Staff Reporter adds from Malappuram: The hartal met with mixed response in Malappuram district. Attempts by BJP workers to impose a total bandh caused tension at several places.
BJP workers destroyed an autorickshaw at Wandoor. They attacked and broke the glass panes of a restaurant at Tirur. At Cherumukku, near Tirurangadi, local people intervened after BJP workers stopped vehicles going to the airport and hospital. They finally withdrew when the situation began to turn worse. The police dispersed the crowds.
Public transport vehicles kept off the road. Private vehicles and autorickshaws were seen plying at many places. Offices and business establishments remained closed. No educational institution functioned in the district.
