The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Violence marks hartal in district

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Wednesday, Feb 20, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Violence marks hartal in district

Staff Reporter

KSRTC assets bear the brunt of violence unleashed by UDF activists

— Photo: S. Mahinsha

On public property: Stone-throwing near the General Post Office in the city, during the State-wide hartal called by the UDF, damaged the windshield of a KSRTC bus.

Thiruvananthapuram: At least eight persons were injured and an estimated Rs.10 lakh-worth of public property, most of it owned by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), damaged in hartal-related violence in the district on Tuesday.

Two KSRTC drivers, Pradeep and Karunakaran Nair, were injured when rioters pelted their buses with stones at Kallayam and Kanyakulangara in the Vattappara area in the morning. Nair sustained an eye injury while Pradeep suffered bruises on his face. No passengers were injured. The police arrested three persons in connection with the attacks.

Pro-hartal activists smashed the windscreens of four KSRTC buses at Balaramapuram and one at Parassala around 10 a.m. Around 10.15 a.m., hartal-backers smashed the windows of a bar hotel, Abhirami, at Kattakada.

Around 30 UDF supporters stormed the canteen run by the KSRTC at Neyyatinkara and caused damage to property. The police arrested 11 of them. Stones were thrown at a government-run liquor shop also in Neyyatinkara. A KSRTC bus was attacked at Vazhimukku.

The police arrested 22 UDF workers on the charge of blocking the road at Alumoodu. They took eight UDF activists into preventive custody at Vellarada. UDF workers disrupted the functioning of the Kerala State Electricity Board’s local office at Aryanadu and the KSRTC depot at Poovar.

Around 20 Opposition activists roughed up Renil B. Kumar, a lawyer on his way to attend court, at Maidan junction around 10 a.m.

The rural police arrested 54 persons and registered 11 cases in connection with hartal-related incidents of violence.

Hartal supporters at Vizhinjam beat up a barber, Kamaludeen, who opened his hair dressing saloon in the morning. They forced the closure of several shops in the area.

Journalists attacked

Opposition activists attacked a vehicle carrying journalists working for Asianet television channel at Vattiyoorkavu in the morning. The police arrested 8 persons suspected to be responsible for the attacks.

Hartal supporters smashed the windscreens of two KSRTC buses at Pulimoodu and broke the windows of a hotel, City Towers, at Thampanoor.

Five persons were arrested in connection with both the incidents. The Peroorkada police arrested 10 UDF activists on the charge of conducting a procession without official consent.

UDF workers smashed the windscreen of a KSRTC bus at Fort and broke the head lights of another at Museum. The police registered eight cases and arrested 19 persons in connection with hartal related incidents in the city.

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