Sabarimala highlights: BJP worker dies in Kerala violence; 745 arrested

Reports say that at least 745 people were arrested till Thursday evening, while 628 people were taken into custody as a precaution

5:47 PM

4:34 PM

The state's universities postponed the examinations scheduled for Thursday. 

4:34 PM

Scores of protesters were arrested from different parts of the state for breaking peace. 

4:34 PM

The Congress is observing a 'black day' against the entry of women into the Sabarimala shrine, the abode of its perenially celibate deity Lord Ayyappa. 

4:34 PM

Some Youth Congress workers were injured when they were hit by the pilot vehicle of the chief minister's convoy while they attempted to show black flags to Vijayan. 

4:34 PM

CPI(M) offices were pelted with stones in Ernakulam and Mallapuram districts, while a library managed by the party in Palakkad was also vandalised. 

4:28 PM

Journalists stage protest march

Journalists staged a protest march in the state capital after they were allegedly assaulted by protesters. The state's police chief Lok Nath Behera said a special team will probe the assault on media.  

4:28 PM

Crude bombs being used in protests 

Agitators hurled a crude bomb at a local beedi manufacturing unit managed by the CPI(M) in Thalassery in Kannur district, but it did not explode, police said, adding 10 right-wing activists were arrested. (Read more here)  

 

Another crude bomb was thrown at Nedumangadu police station about 17 km from here, officials said. It was not immediately known whether it went off and caused any damage.  

4:28 PM

The office of the CPI at Palakkad was attacked by the protesters and the vehicles parked in front of it, including state transport corporation buses, auto-rickshaws and police vehicles were pelted with stones.

4:28 PM

Protest demonstrations by the BJP and Sabarimala Karma Samithi turned violent at several places in Kozhikode, Kannur Malappuram, Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram.

 

Police used batons and water cannons to break up protests.  

4:27 PM

Some shopkeepers defy 'hartal' call 

Normal life was thrown haywire because of the shutdown, as shops and hotels remained shuttered in the state capital. However, defying the 'Hartal' call, some shopkeepers opened their establishments on SM Street, a major trade hub in Kozhikode, besides a few places in Kochi and Kollam under police security. (Read more here) 

4:19 PM

State-run buses keep off the roads 

Most state-run buses kept off the roads after several of them were damaged in Wednesday's violence, while only a few autorickshaws plied in cities and towns. 

4:18 PM

4:18 PM

Three BJP activists stabbed

The state was under siege as strike supporters clashed with police and the ruling CPI(M) activists at several places. (Read more here) 

 

In Thrissur, three BJP activists were stabbed during a clash with workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of Popular Front of India, a militant Islamic outfit, police said.

4:17 PM

The dawn to dusk shutdown called by Sabarimala Karma Samithi, an umbrella organisation of various pro-Hindutva groups, and the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), plunged the state into turmoil, as hundreds of Hindu right-wing activists disrupted vehicular movement, and vandalised shops and offices of the ruling CPI(M).