Persons suspected to be Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers vandalised the houses of Municipal Counsellors owing allegiance to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Nedumangadu Municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district on Thursday afternoon, according to police.

Unknown persons targeted the homes of CPI(M) workers in what the police suspect to be retaliatory action by BJP workers.

The police have rushed reinforcements to the locality following intelligence reports that both parties were marshalling their cadres to protect their respective party offices and residences of activists in the neighbourhood, where shops remained shut and roads empty.

A senior officer said they would clamp a curfew in the locality if the violence escalates further. The police have briefed the district magistrate about the situation. Persons alleged to be strike supporters exploded a cracker in the vicinity of the Nedumangadu police station.

An officer attached to the station was injured in a stone-throwing incident by hartal supporters. The police fired teargas shells and swung batons to break-up street skirmishes between strike supporters and CPI(M) activists in Malayankeezhu, a leafy outlying neighbourhood in the district.

Officers said the violence could continue into the night given the State-wide stand-off between CPI(M) and BJP activists.