Kozhikode: The strike called by the KSRTC employees owing allegiance to the CITU turned violent in Kannur though it evoked only partial response in the region.
The demands of the strikers include protecting the nationalized routes and superclass permits of KSRTC, inducting new buses and fixing the daily wages of temporary employees as Rs 500.
In Payyannur, the strikers threatened and sprinkled Naikkurana powder (itching powder) at a woman employee and a driver.
When the employees arrived in the morning, the CITU workers unleashed terror in the depots scaring them away, it was alleged.
Though the strike started by Monday midnight, only 20 percent of the buses kept off the road.
The buses on the major routes were not affected. The services to Thiruvambadi and Kodanchery route were hit. In the Kuttiadi-Thottilppalam route, the majority of services kept off the road.
It is alleged that the pro-strike attitude of the assistant transport officer resulted in the absence of services under the depot.
KSRTC Kozhikode zonal officer K. Mohammed Safarulla told Deccan Chronicle that more than 60 percent of services were conducted in the region.
"In Kozhikode city, of the total 700 schedules, 420 services were conducted whereas in Kannur district, of the total 117 services, only 27 were operated," he added.
