Hartal total in Kunnamkulam

A hartal observed by the Bharatiya Janata Party in Kunnamkulam yesterday following the death of Valiapurackal Mohan, 57, was total. He collapsed and died on Sunday after he witnessed CPI(M)-BJP clashes at Kizhur in the Kunnamkulam police station limits. The BJP claimed that he was a party sympathiser and that he collapsed after being hit by a stone. Shops and business establishments remained closed. Vehicles were seen on streets. Suspected BJP activists forcibly closed schools in the area. The police said that a postmortem examination revealed that Mohan died of heart attack.