Country bombs hurled in Kerala during hartal

KANNUR: North Malabar continued to be in the grip of violence for the second day on Friday in the wake of the statewide hartal on Thursday. The district collectors imposed ban orders under section 144 at Manjeshwaram taluk, Kasargod, and Vadakara and Perambra, Kozhikode. The BJP panchayat office at Puthiyatheru was gutted in the wee hours of Friday.

Sureshan, 53, of Valapattanam, who was sleeping near the office, sustained burns and was admitted to Pariyaram medical college hospital. The posters and banners inside the party office were burnt. 

The police said the BJP banners and flags near Chirakal Kadalaayi temple were vandalised by two persons who came on a motorbike. 

The mayhem continued at Manjeshwaram, Kasargod. Three BJP workers, Guruprasad, 23, Kiran Kumar, 27, and Vasanthan, 40, were stabbed around 9 p.m. on Thursday. 

The police arrested four BJP workers for the violence at Talapady. They are Vasantha Shenoy, Keerthi Shetty, Pramod Kumar and Vikram. Another BJP worker Naveen, 22, of Moroth-ana, Manjeshwaram, was held for attacking the police.

A tuition centre at Nayabazar, Uppala, was vandalised allegedly by BJP workers. A lorry driver Rajendra from Karnataka was seriously injured when stones were pelted at him at Uppala Shiriya NH. 

A steel bomb was hurled at the house of Malabar Devaswom Board member Sasikumar Perambra at Kallod, Perambra. Meanwhile, Sabarimala tantri Kantaru Rajeevaru’ position has become shaky with the Travancore Devaswom Board asking him to explain within 15 days why he had shut down the temple in violation of the spirit of the Supreme Court verdict. 

Tantri Rajeevaru had closed the temple for nearly an hour for carrying out purification after he confirmed that two women had darshan at the sannidhanam. 
TDB president A. Padmakumar said that the explanation was sought on the basis of the report filed by board commissioner N. Vasu at the board meeting.