Kottayam: A bus owner was assaulted by a local CPM leader here on Sunday after he attempted to remove trade union flags hoisted in front of his vehicle.

Rajmohan, the owner of ‘Vettikulangara’ bus that operates on the Kottayam-Thiruvarpu route, was reportedly manhandled by Thiruvarpu panchayat member K R Ajay when the former tried to remove the flags.

Though cops quickly intervened, Rajmohan fell on the road and was rushed to a nearby hospital.

The other day, the High Court had ordered the resumption of the bus service with police protection. However, Rajmohan could not take out the bus on Saturday since the flags were planted in front of the bus.

The CITU claimed it only questioned Rajmohan destroying the union flags and that it was not against the resumption of the bus service.

The BJP staged a protest before the Kumarakom police station but withdrew the same after cops took the accused Ajay into custody. An agreement was also reached to resume the bus operation in the afternoon.

Earlier, the CITU hoisted the flags in front of the bus in protest against the “non-implementation” of a wage hike. Though the bus owner increased the salary of the workers, the dispute was over the bata to be given if a certain amount of collection is received.

Rajmohan, a Gulf returnee and also the BJP's Kumarakom mandalam vice-president, even started selling lottery tickets in front of his bus in protest by sporting a coat and suit.

He named the centre as 'Times Square Lucky Centre.’ This alludes to the Chief Minister’s recent visit to New York and addressing the expatriates at Times Square.