Kerala Chief Minister hurt as protesters throw stones at his car

Kannur: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was hurt on Sunday when protesters threw stones at his car and broke its windows in Kannur.

The Chief Minister's office told NDTV that Mr Chandy's car was attacked from both sides, which broke both the rear windows. Mr Chandy was injured on the forehead by glass splinters and was even hit by a stone. One of his ministers, KC Joseph, was reportedly with him.

They were in Kannur, over 600 km from Thiruvananthapuram, to attend a police event.

Mr Chandy was taken to a Kannur hospital for a check-up late on Sunday night. Emerging from the hospital with his forehead bandaged, he said: "I am leaving for Kozhikode and from there will fly to Thiruvananthapuram."

The protesters claim they were only waving black flags at the convoy. No arrests have been made so far.

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Kerala's Opposition Left Democratic Front has been demanding the Chief Minister's resignation over the solar scam, in which a pair of entrepreneurs, Saritha Nair and Biju Radhakrishnan, allegedly swindled several people and companies by claiming links with powerful people including Mr Chandy.

The LDF, meanwhile, distanced from the attack holding that physically targeting the Chief Minister was not part of its campaign.

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The protests, and the security fears, have stalled the Chief Minister's mass contact programme, which involves him spending a day in each district to deal with people's problems.