Chevayur bank polls: Clashes erupt during hartal in Kozhikode, six arrested

Kozhikode: Clashes erupted between police and protesters during the hartal called by the Congress in Kozhikode following the violence during the election to the Chevayur Cooperative Bank.
Attempts to block vehicles, including KSRTC and private buses, led to the confrontation. Protesters also clashed with private bus employees.

Six people, including the Congress block president, were arrested. Protesters forced shops to down the shutters. Although the public cooperated with the hartal, Congress leaders alleged that police sympathetic to the CPM created the conflict.

On Saturday, heavy clashes broke out between Congress and CPM workers during the election to the Chevayur Service Cooperative Bank. The Congress rebels, as part of the CPM-backed Democracy Protection Committee, captured the bank from the Congress.

Numerous voters and Congress, CPM and BJP workers were injured in the clash. The Congress leadership had clarified that the hartal was being observed to protest against the brutal attack by CPM activists and the police action that aided it. The 12-hour hartal is being observed from 6 am to 6 pm.