Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 2: Arson and violence marred the CPM’s dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kerala today to protest the arrest of party strongman P. Jayarajan in connection with the murder of an Indian Union Muslim League activist in February.

Life was thrown out of gear as vehicles stayed off the roads and shops and offices remained closed across the state. CPM citadel Kannur and other northern districts reported the highest violence.

A leader of CPM youth wing DYFI died after a scuffle between CPM and Muslim League workers in Kasargode district, but the cause of the death is yet to be ascertained. The CPM has called a hartal in the district tomorrow in protest against the death.

Muslim League activist A. Abdul Shukoor, 21, was killed allegedly by CPM workers in Kannur on February 20, apparently in revenge for an attack on CPM leaders including Jayarajan and T.V. Rajesh, an MLA. The murder plot, police claim, was hatched at the co-operative hospital in Kannur where they were admitted after the attack. Rajesh is an accused in the case.

Some 200 incidents of violence were reported in the state today, home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said, adding that 72 police personnel were injured. The hartal supporters attacked 20 police stations, 57 Congress offices, 18 Muslim League offices and scores of shops, he said.

Government offices and public transport were stoned, and journalists came under attack in at last five places. The hartal affected operations at the state’s main IT hub, Technopark. In Palakkad, a CPM worker collapsed and died after he suffered a stroke during a protest march.

Radhakrishnan accused the CPM of “organised” violence, saying that about 200 armed troublemakers had gone on the rampage in Kannur. He said the government was considering amendments to the penal laws to afford more protection to shops.

A Rapid Action Force company that had been moved to Kannur last evening from Coimbatore was not deployed, though. Additional director-general of police Rajesh Diwan said the situation had not gone out of hand and the local police could control it. The RAF will, however, stay put in the district for three more days, he said.