THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hartal called by joint protest council, an umbrella organization of various political outfits, against the Citizenship Amendment Act largely passed off peacefully even as stray incidents of stone pelting at public transport buses were reported in six places.
Five KSRTC and one Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses were damaged in stone pelting in the rural police district. In Attingal police station limit, stones were pelted at two KSRTC buses shattering their glasses. In Neyyattinkara, one KSRTC bus and a TNSTC bus came under stone pelting. One stone-pelting incident each were reported from Balaramapuram and Aruvikkara police station limits. The hartal had the most impact in the rural police district as evident from the number of cases and arrests recorded. As many as 157 people were arrested in the rural police district limit. Of these, 81 were taken into preventive custody, while 76 were arrested in connection with hartal offences. Six cases were registered under Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (PDPP) for vandalising buses. Arrests in these cases will be recorded later.
In the city limits, only 10 people were confined under preventive custody. Three cases were also registered in connection with the hartal offences.