The Bharatiya Janata Party Friday observed a dawn-to-dusk bandh in this district, to condemn the "disrespectful" behaviour of police towards Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan while he was en route to Sabarimala two days ago.

Most shops remained closed.

BJP workers shouted slogans against the Kerala government and its police.

They also blocked some Kerala State Transport Corporation Buses for sometime before police persuaded them to disperse.

At Gudalur in Theni district, some BJP workers blocked a KSRTC bus for an hour before police intervened.

Radhakrishnan's Sabarimala visit got entangled in a controversy after the BJP alleged that a senior IPS officer Yatish Chandra allegedly behaved arrogantly" with the minister Wednesday.

Radhakrishnan, who was on his way to the shrine, engaged in a brief altercation with the police at Nilackal over restrictions on private vehicles heading to Pamba, the last entry point to the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

BJP workers also alleged that Radhakrishnan's vehicle was intercepted when he was returning from the shrine early Thursday.

However, the Kerala police said another vehicle, part of his convoy, was stopped on suspicion that Sabarimala protesters were travelling in it.

Very few vehicles were seen plying on the roads in the district.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)