Normal life was affected as multiple instances of violence were reported in the district during the dawn-to-dusk hartal on Friday called by the Popular Front of India (PFI) in protest against the arrest of its senior leaders by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Over 20 vehicles, including 17 KSRTC buses, were vandalised by hartal supporters in various places. Five people, including KSRTC drivers, were injured in the incidents.
Violence broke out as early as 6.30 a.m. when two motorcycle-borne men pelted stones at a KSRTC bus at Attakulangara. The drivers of a tipper lorry and a KSRTC bus sustained injuries as they came under attack by hartal supporters at Balaramapuram. While the KSRTC bus driver, Sunil Kumar, suffered an eye injury when a stone hurled at the vehicle smashed its windshield, an unidentified heavy object thrown at the lorry landed on the driver Jinu’s chest.
