The Capital city on Tuesday became a war zone following the agitation of the LDF and Left youth organisations seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan for their alleged involvement in the solar scam.
Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan and CPI Legislature Party leader C Divakaran were hospitalised when they felt uneasiness and suffocation after a teargas shell exploded near them when they led the LDF leaders’ march to the Secretariat at 12.30 pm.
LDF leaders and MLAs, who came out in a march from the Assembly following the adjournment of the Assembly sine die, marched to the Secretariat. When the leaders addressed the march, police threw grenades and teargas shells to disperse the crowd. A large number of LDF workers and policemen were also injured.
In protest against the incidents, the LDF has called for a statewide dawn-to-dusk hartal on Wednesday.
The violence unleashed by the police and agitating LDF men in the one-km stretch from Martyr’s Column to the Secretariat converted the area into a war zone. Traffic came to a grinding halt causing severe hardship to the commuters. Vehicular traffic was diverted from Palayam and Overbridge areas.
The violence started with the Assembly march of the LDF activists at 11 am. Police fired teargas shells and grenades to disperse the crowd. Following this, violence spread to Palayam and Statue areas.
The youth activists tried to jump over the barricades forcing police to lathicharge.