Violence erupts during hartal in Varappuzha

Incidents of sporadic violence marked the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the BJP in the North Paravur assembly region in protest against the death of a 26-year-old party worker, Sreejith, due to alleged custodial torture.

A tense situation had prevailed in the Varappuzha region since Monday night. Most shops remained closed, while people chose to remain indoors, fearing violence.

Protest activities began as early as 7.30 a.m., with the agitators converging on the national highway around 8.30 a.m. and staging a blockade that continued throughout the day.

According to eyewitnesses, the most affected were those who came from faraway places, and they had no inkling that a regional hartal would turn so violent.

Motorists get held up

The police remained mute spectators even as hundreds of motorists were held up on the busy stretch. In fact, the presence of police personnel at the location was minimal.

The protests took a violent turn around 8.30 a.m. as the hartal supporters allegedly assaulted motorists for attempting to negotiate through the blockade. Those who were attacked included the father of an infant who was being taken to a hospital in Kochi, and a four-member family, including an eye patient, who were returning from a city hospital.

“The infant’s father sought to argue with the protesters who were in no mood to be reasoned out, and the argument soon escalated into a violent attack. The protesters were also seen abusing a couple of college students who had approached the hartal supporters seeking their cooperation for them to appear for an examination,” said an eyewitness.

As the protests intensified, the police re-routed the held-up vehicles through alternative routes, and the backlog could be cleared only by afternoon.

The protesters also took out a march to the Varappuzha police station seeking action against the officers involved in the case around 10.30 a.m. The march, however, was barricaded.

Meanwhile, the Varappuzha police registered two cases for rioting and assault. “The first case is in connection with the assault of a person who attempted to take his baby to the hospital, while the other case pertained to the protest march taken out to the police station,” officials said.