The dawn-to-dusk hartal on Thursday in Kerala called by the BJP to protest against the murder of its activist in Kannur the previous day turned violent at a number of places.

A protest rally taken out here by the party and its feeder organisations forced the few shops that had opened for business to shut down for the rest of the day. Media persons were chased away by the marchers and their cameras snatched and destroyed. Similar incidents have been reported from elsewhere in the State including Kochi and Thrissur.

The police had declared heightened alert on a day when the body of the slain BJP activist was scheduled to be cremated in his village in Kannur. This was not enough to prevent incidents of arson and violence that were subsequently reported from across the State, in which vehicles were not allowed to ply and the few which did were stoned. Hartal supporters also targeted flag posts and hoardings erected by the CPI(M) at many places.

The police had to resort to lathi charge to chase away mobs at some places.

The BJP had exempted specific essential services from the hartal.

In one incident reported from Kozhikode, a shop owned by a BJP activist was set afire by as yet unidentified people in the small hours of Thursday.

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