Strong agitation against K Rail; Strike continues in Changanassery, stops laying of stone in Kallayi, opposition takes over

KOTTAYAM: The hartal continues by a team led by the joint protest panel in various places of the city against the K Rail Project in Changanassery. The UDF has taken over the strike and said it will continue till the government withdraws from the project. The UDF team will reach Changanassery today. The opposition protested by boycotting the assembly over the police action in Madappally.

The hartal was called by the Janakeeya Samara Samithi in Changanassery constituency in protest against the police action against the anti-K Rail protesters in Madappally yesterday. Shops and banks opened were asked to down shutters. The protests against K Rail in Kozhikode is intensifying. The owners opposed laying of stones in Kallayi and said will not permit it.

The hartal in Changanassery is from 6 am to 6 pm. The hartal has the support of the UDF, BJP and the SUCI. Essential services have been excluded from the hartal. The protest panel said the hartal would be peaceful but agitation will be intensified.

The incidents started when the SilverLine team came to lay the survey stones at Mundukuzhy in Madappally. The locals came forward opposing the laying of stones. Women and children shouted slogans and protested forming a human wall. When the protestors tried to smash the panes of the vehicle laden with stones, the police manhandled the parents in front of their children. Women protestors with kerosene bottles in their hands raised threats of self-immolation. Following this, the police used force to remove them from the spot.