The hartal called by the Cheramar-Sambavar Development Society (CSDS) in the district on Tuesday against the alleged atrocities by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and its feeder organisations against Dalits turned violent, resulting in an almost total paralysis of social life.
The police arrested 15 persons for causing damage to Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses in Kottayam town. They have been produced at the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court III and remanded.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
18 cases
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the police at least 18 cases have been registered all over the district in connection with hartal-related violence. At least 80 persons have been arrested and released on bail for various cases. CSDS activists were on the road right from 6 a.m., obstructing traffic. At least two KSRTC buses were damaged in the town. Private vehicles, including two-wheelers, were blocked at scores of centres . There are reports from Pallickathode, Pala, Kanjirappally, and Karukachal where agitating CSDS activists attacked the public.
The KSRTC had started operating buses and private vehicles had been brought to the roads in the early hours of the day. However, the unprecedented scale of violence, in which dozens of vehicles were damaged, discouraged people from venturing out later on. By 10 a.m., almost all the roads, including those in the rural areas, were deserted and shops remained closed. The students of Mahatma Gandhi University had a harrowing time as the authorities had maintained that all examinations scheduled for Tuesday would be held as scheduled.
The hartal was triggered by the attack on a Dalit student by SFI activists at a hostel on the Priyadarshini Hills campus of MG University.
ADVERTISEMENT