Malappuram: The Kerala police have launched a massive manhunt to nab those who unleashed violence in north Kerala in the name of a hartal called on social media to protest the Kathua gangrape.
The police have rounded up hundreds of people from various locations in Malappuram. The police have also seized the vehicles used by the agitators. Most of those who were arrested have been let out on bail.
On Monday, the protesters blocked public transport buses, forcibly downed shutters of shops and hurled stones at vehicles in the name of hartal. Some police personnel, including a deputy SP, suffered injuries in the incident.
After the unprecedented violence, Section 144 was imposed in parts of Malappuram - Tirur, Tanur and Parapanagadi. The situation returned to normalcy on Tuesday and no untoward incident was reported. However, the police have heightened vigil after information that inflammatory messages were being shared on social media.
Kerala BJP chief Kummanam Rajasekharan visited the violence-hit areas in Malappuram on Tuesday.
The police, however, asserted that no political party or outfit had called for the hartal.
They said that the hoax hartal call went viral as social media users shared the message without checking its veracity.
The minor girl, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, had disappeared from her house in Kathua on January 10. A week later, her body was found in the same area, and medical examination pointed towards sexual assault.
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