The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) on Saturday in protest against the murder of Revolutionary Marxist Party leader T.P. Chandrasekharan near Vadakara on Friday night was total and peaceful in the district.
Private buses remained off the road. Though the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated some services, there were only a few passengers.
Educational institutions, markets and business establishments remained closed. Government offices and banks registered thin attendance.
Though most of the banks had opened in the morning, following protest by hartal supporters they also downed shutters later on.
Near total in Kannur
A Correspondent writes from Kannur: The hartal was near-total in the Kannur and Thalassery towns.
Only a few private vehicles including four wheelers plied while the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation operated services as usual in both towns.
Shops and commercial establishments remained closed while government offices recorded thin attendance.
Medical shops and hospitals were excluded from the daylong hartal.
No cases of violence has been reported from both the towns, while long queues could be seen at the railway stations pointing to the inconvenience caused to public life due to the sudden call for hartal on Saturday.
Mixed response
Staff Reporter writes from Kasaragod: The daylong hartal evoked mixed response in the district.
The hartal evoked partial response in Kasaragod taluk limits where a section of private bus operators conducted services, and business establishments remained open. However, hartal affected normal life in the southern town of Kanhangad where most shops and other business establishments, including banks, remained shut.
In Kasaragod, a police team led by Circle Inspector Babu Peringath had to use force to disburse a group of UDF activists who tried to prevent buses from operating service from the old bus station around 9.30 p.m. The hartal supporters also forced a few shopkeepers to down shutters.
