Educational institutions, shops and commercial establishments remained closed in most parts of the district, while the state-owned transport corporation KSRTC operated only skeleton bus services.
Many passengers were stranded in bus and railway stations while aAttendance was thin at banks, government and private offices.
The BJP Ernakulam District committee has alleged that the party workers were brutally lathicharged by police yesterday when they were seeking justice for a Dalit student at RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Thrippunithura, who attempted to end her life after a proposed marriage failed due to rumours allegedly spread by SFI activists in the campus.
The girl's engagement was called off following the incidents, they alleged.