Incidents of stone throwing on KSRTC buses and goods carriers stopped people from venturing out during the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Popular Front of India (PFI) here on Friday.
Both urban and rural areas of Kozhikode witnessed sporadic incidents of violence during the hartal called by the PFI to condemn the arrest of its leaders subsequent to a nation-wide raid by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Though seven suspected PFI workers were taken into preventive custody by the city police, a majority of those who smashed the windshields of buses and goods carriers remained untraced. KSRTC officials said one of their drivers sustained injuries in an attack. He was admitted to the Government General Hospital, they added.
Only wayside eateries functioned as hartal supporters attacked hotels and shops. At Nadakkavu, unidentified PFI activists threw stones at a hotel, damaging its display counter. No one was injured in the incident.
Private buses stayed off the road. KSRTC sought the support of the police to operate convoy services to Wayanad, Kannur and Malappuram districts after its four buses were attacked in Kozhikode.
Senior police officers said they had deployed additional forces to ensure uninterrupted traffic on national and State highways. Mobile patrol squads were present at all important locations in the city.
As most hotels and shops remained closed, rough sleepers had to depend on food packets supplied by voluntary organisations. For many migrant workers and travellers, wayside eateries were the last resort.
Coming down heavily on the State government for its “unsuccessful interventions” in reining in troublemakers, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president K. Surendran said the Home department had surrendered to the PFI. “It was like a reward for those who supported the LDF in the last elections. Religious extremists were out on the streets, forcing even Central agencies to act. It is now clear that Kerala is not safe for citizens,” he alleged.
