Kozhikode city was under a thick security blanket on Sunday with the city police pulling out all the stops to thwart any protest bid by Opposition parties during the events that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan attended here in the evening.
Congress, BJP and their frontal organisations have been holding protests in various parts of the city following the revelations of Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case. There was anticipation of violence here too after the heavy security deployment during the events Mr. Vijayan attended in Kottayam and Kochi on Saturday and the reported ban on people wearing black face masks.
Mr. Vijayan reached the Kozhikode Guest House at West Hill in the city from Malappuram at around 1 p.m. The first event, the release of a book on the late communist veteran K. Chathunni, was scheduled at a private hotel near the Sarovaram Biopark at 3.30 p.m. Heavy downpour delayed the event and the Chief Minister stepped out of the guest house only by 4 p.m.
