Kerala - Kollam   

Hartal total in Kollam, Pathanamthitta

KERALA EXPERIENCE: Foreign tourists get a lift on two-wheelers on hartal day in Kollam on Thursday.

KOLLAM: The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was total in Kollam district.

Barring a few incidents of stone throwing, the hartal was by and large peaceful. There were two incidents of stone throwing at Chathannur. The police arrested 17 hartal supporters from various parts of the district under charges of stone throwing and creating road blocks.

A tourist bus coming from Bangalore and bound for Thiruvananthapuram was attacked by hartal supporters on the National Highway at Chathannur. The driver of the bus was injured. The police arrested six hartal supporters. A petrol pump at Chathannur was also attacked. Early on Thursday morning at Sasthamcotta, a man was critically injured when the bike he was riding crashed into a teak pole placed across the road by hartal supporters. The injured man, identified as Basheer Amani, was admitted to the Medial College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

Shops and commercial establishments remained closed. Educational institutions also did not function. The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and private buses did not operate schedules.

There was a skirmish between autorickshaw drivers and hartal supporters near the Kollam railway station. The police brought the situation under control.

Staff Reporter writes from Pathanamthitta:

The hartal was total and peaceful in Pathanamthitta district. Shops and business establishments, including banks, remained closed. Only a few two-wheelers plied on the roads.

In Pandalam, the hartal-supporters blocked a few vehicles. No untoward incident was reported from any part of the district.

The pilgrim centre of Parumala was excluded from the ambit of the hartal in view of the ongoing annual church festival there.

The KSRTC operated 12 schedules to Parumala from the Thiruvalla depot.

BJP workers took out marches in Pathanamthitta, Ranni, Konni, Thiruvalla, Adoor, Kozhencherry,

Pandalam, Mallappally and Chittar towns.

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