Widespread protest against petrol price hike in State

Friday, September 16, 2011: The recent increase in petrol prices has triggered widespread protest in Kerala especially in capital city.
The march taken out by the DYFI activists to the General Post Office (GPO) here as a protest against the petrol price hike turned violent today.

The activists barged into the office compound shouting slogans and smashed window panes. This led to a scuffle between the activists and the police. The police later resorted to lathicharge and used water canon to disperse the agitated mob.
As a protest against this incident the SFI activists staged demonstration and pelted stones at the police from the University college campus. The police launched grenades into the college campus to disperse the protesters.
Some of the activists including SFI district secretary Ben Darwin and State vice president AA Rahim were injured in the police lathicharge and have been admitted in the Medical college hospital here.
Left leaders alleged the police had beaten up SFI activists inside the campus. Opposition deputy leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, AK Balan and Vaikom Viswan said that police act is worth condemning.
In capital city two government vehicles and one police jeep were set on fire near General hospital, Kunnkuzhi and Thekkumoodu by the SFI and DYFI activists as a protest against the police action on the activists.
meanwhile hundreds of activists of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) staged demonstrations at Kozhikode, Kollam and Kannur railway stations and blocked trains.
Meanwhile the Kerala State Motor Employees Coordination Committee has called for a state-wide motor vehicle strike on Monday as a protest against the hike in petrol prices.
The strike will be held from 6 am to 6 pm. State-owned oil firms raised petrol prices by Rs 3.14 per litre as the rupee touched two-year low against the US dollar, increasing the cost of importing crude oil. The hike came to effect from yesterday midnight.
With the declaration of fuel price hike and the upcoming motor vehicle strike, the citizens would have to suffer greatly.

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