Kathua incident; Prohibitory orders for a week in Kozhikode

Prohibitory orders have been imposed for a week in Kozhikode in view of reports of possible violence and untoward incidents in the name of protests against the Kathua gang rape incident, police said.

This comes in the wake of large-scale violence in parts of Kozhikode, during the April 16 'hartal', which was also observed in other places, over the incident.

Police said rallies and public meetings are banned, as also pasting of any posters that would hurt religious sentiments.

Storage and manufacturing of arms have also been banned, police said.

Some outfits, which had planned to take out a rally here tomorrow as part of the protest, had postponed it to April 30, they said.

Meanwhile, police said more than 900 persons had been arrested so far in connection with the violence in various parts of the state on April 16, of which 289 had been remanded by various courts.

In a related development, BJP President Kummanom Rajasekharan in a statement reiterated the party's demand for an NIA probe into the violence.

He also alleged that political pressure was the reason for police not taking stern action against the agitators, even after an intelligence alert about the possibility of violence.

A 'hoax' hartal call on social media since April 15 to protest the alleged gang rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir said a state-wide hartal against the incident would be observed on Monday and urged people to join the protest.

Hundreds of persons were taken into custody from various places on April 16 for blocking public transport buses, forcibly downing shutters of shops and pelting stones at vehicles in the name of the 'hartal'.