UDF-BJP hartal hits normal life in Kerala

Normal life was hit in Kerala following the state-wide hartal called by the Congress-led UDF and BJP today to protest against the police "high-handedness" against relatives of an engineering student, who allegedly committed suicide.
Malappuram, which is in the thick of campaign for the April 12 bypoll, was exempted from the strike. The bypoll was necessitated following demise of former Union Minister E Ahamed.
Vehicles were off the roads with only private cars and two-wheelers plying.
Barring a few incidents of stone pelting and blocking of vehicles in some parts of the state, the hartal was by and large peaceful. No untoward incidents were reported, police said.

The UDF and BJP had called for a hartal after police prevented Mahija, mother of Jishnu, and other relatives from staging a hunger strike in front of the DGP's office here yesterday.
However, Mahija and her brother, who have been admitted to the Trivandrum Medical College Hospital here, are observing hunger strike.

Jishnu's sister, Avishna, a class ten student, said she was also observing the hunger strike at her home at Nadapuram in Kozhikode, seeking justice for her brother and against the police action on her parents.
Kerala University and Mahatma Gandhi University postponed their examinations which were slated for today. There was, however, no change in the recruitment examination conducted by the Public service Commission (PSC) for various posts.

Jishnu Pranoy, a first year student of the private Nehru College of Engineering in Thrissur, was found hanging in the college hostel in January last following alleged harassment by college authorities.