PFI hartal violence in Kerala premeditated, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the violence during the Popular Front of India (PFI) hartal was premeditated.

Speaking to senior police officers, he condemned the violence and said culprits will not be spared. He added that violence resulted in the destruction of public and private properties.

In Kannur, two people threw a petrol bomb at the RSS office and broke window panes. Freight lorries coming from Mangaluru were also stopped on the national highway in Kannur. Their keys were snatched away which caused a traffic jam in the area. In Kottayam, police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse protesters who were allegedly trying to block vehicles and close shops. In Kollam, two cops were allegedly hit by protestors when they tried to stop him from blocking commuters.

The hartal was called by the Islamic organisation after NIA headed a multi-agency operation to carry out raids in PFI offices in 100 states. This led to the arrest of 106 activists on September 22. The organisation called a hartal in retaliation.

All India Muslim Jamaat president Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi on Friday asked the Muslim community to dissociate from PFI and called it a radical group. The NIA said the organisation was carrying out terror activities.

Amid the violence on September 23, as many as 500 people were arrested and 400 others were put under preventative detention. PFI supporters damaged shops and vehicles. Cases of stone pelting were also reported.