Mangaluru firing: North Kerala districts put on high alert

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 20: The Kerala Police has been directed to maintain high vigil in northern districts of the state in the wake of the killing of two people in police firing in Mangaluru in neighbouring Karnataka during protests against Citizenship Amendment Act.

In a Thursday night alert, state DGP D Loknath Behera instructed the force to be on high alert especially in the districts of Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kasaragod and Kannur, an official statement said.

Meanwhile, a series of protest marches by different outfits and blocking of trains and buses were reported in various parts of Kerala past midnight after the news about the killing of two persons had emerged.

Activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and Kerala Students Union (KSU), who led protest marches to the railway stations in Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram respectively, blocked trains at midnight.

The KSU activists, who protested on the rail tracks at the Central Railway Station here, were removed by the police after an hour.

Anti-CAA protesters blocked Karnataka RTC buses in some parts of Kozhikode and raised slogans against the Mangaluru police action and the Centre.

A large number of Congress workers, led by DCC president T Siddique, blocked roads and burnt tyres in Kozhikode, where Campus Front activists blocked roads and burnt the effigy of Amit Shah past midnight.

The Kerala Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has suspended bus services to Mangaluru. State Transport Minister, A K Saseendran told reporters here that the service would be resumed only after the situation there comes under control.

Police sources said protesters defying prohibitory orders attempted to lay siege to the Mangalore North police station and tried to attack police personnel, following which force was used to disperse them. Two persons received bullet injuries in police firing, and they later succumbed at a hospital, Karnataka police had said.