THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Popular Front of India (PFI), enraged by the NIA and ED's detention of 19 of its workers, called for a "Kerala bandh" on Friday while the police stood by and did nothing.

The Muslim stronghold regions of the state felt the full effects of the dawn to dusk bandh. The campaigners pushed people to take down their storefront shutters in a number of locations. 

In a joint operation early on Thursday morning, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and National Investigation Agency (NIA) detained up to 19 PFI activists, including the top echelons of their leadership. 

The PFI activists went on the rampage and threw stones at several locations, despite the Kerala Police's detailed plans and warnings of harsh punishment for those who use violence. As per reports,  the state-owned Kerala State Road Transport Corporation's buses were pelted with stones in a few locations. A few KSRTC employees reportedly were hurt in the violent situations, in addition to the property damage.

Even private vehicles were targeted by the agitators, who attacked a car carrying passengers on its way to the airport to pick them up for an international trip in the state capital's Muslim stronghold. There were reportedly 20 police officers at the scene, but they remained silent.

At Kollam, two on-duty police were injured after suspected PFI activists rammed them with their two-wheelers. The majority of the stores were still closed, even in the well-known international tourist resort nearby Kovalam. However, in the Kottayam district's Erattupettah, the police confronted the PFI employees, drove them away, and arrested five of them.

For clear "electoral" reasons, neither the CPI-M-led Left in power nor the Congress-led opposition have publicly opposed the PFI over the years. The Public Service Commission has chosen to hold the exam as scheduled even though the majority of the state's colleges have decided to postpone the day's exams.

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