A cleaner of a lorry from Tamil Nadu died and the driver sustained injuries when their vehicle was pelted with stones at Chadayankalai near Kanjikode in the Kasaba police limits of Palakkad district in Kerala.
The windscreen of the lorry was damaged.
The lorry carrying vegetables from Mettupalayam to Chengannur in Alappuzha district was attacked with stones during a protest by truckers, the police said.
The cleaner has been identified as Mubarak Basha, 19, of Coimbatore and the driver as Noorullah, 26, of Mettupalayam.
Basha succumbed to injuries he sustained in the chest while he was being taken to the district hospital in Palakkad. The Kasaba police registered a case and have launched a manhunt.
About three lakh lorry owners belonging to the Kerala State Lorry Owners’ Welfare Federation are on strike, protesting against the hike in diesel price and increase in vehicle insurance premium.
They are also demanding a reduction of toll charges on major routes.
Association’s Kerala president K. K. Hamsa said they had not issued any instruction to block vehicles as part of the strike. He suspected anti-social elements to be behind the incident.