Thiruvananthapuram: The city turned into a virtual war zone with the police and Youth Congress workers engaged in running battles on Monday. About a dozen YC men were injured when the police lathicharged them following the violence unleashed by the activists who were seeking a CBI probe into the murder of Youth Congress Mattannur block committee secretary T. H. Shuhaib in Kannur recently. The injured were admitted to the General Hospital and the Medical College Hospital.
The Youth Congress supporters earlier took out a march to the secretariat from Palayam Martyrs’ Square by 12 noon. The police blocked the march about 100 metres from the secretariat with barricades, which were dislodged by the activists. They also pelted stones and tube lights at the police who resorted to a lathicharge and burst tear gas. The workers converged in front of the university college and threw stones at the police who again burst tear gas and grenades and caned them.
The protesters also smashed up the window panes of the vehicle with the water cannon. YC state president Dean Kuriakose and vice- president C. R. Mahesh ended their eight-day fast in front of the secretariat after they were informed that UDF would take over the protest. The police shifted them to the MCH as their health had deteriorated. Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala visited them in the hospital. KPCC president M. M. Hassan termed the police action against the YC workers as ‘barbaric.’
