Thiruvananthapuram: The dawn-to-dusk 'hartal' called by sangh parivar outfits and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to protest the communal violence at Marad Beach near Kozhikode on may 2 night hit normal life in Kerala on may 3, even as security was stepped up across the state in view of the incident, which left nine persons dead.

Shops remained closed in urban areas and bus services were largely off the road as the 12-hour 'hartal' began at 6 am (IST).

According to police, law and order machinery has been fully geared up to check eruption of violence in sensitive spots in the state, though no untoward incident has been reported from any other part so far.

Chief Minister A K Antony, who termed the incident "most unfortunate", instructed the police not to show any mercy towards troublemakers.

Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) leader V S Achuthanandan held "the policy of communal appeasement pursued" by the United Democratic Front (UDF) government as primarily responsible for the Marad clashes.

In Kochi, stray incidents of stoning of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses in two places were reported.

Though private vehicles and autorickshaws could be seen plying, private buses were off the roads, causing hardship to office-goers.

A group of hartal supporters "barged" into the Union Bank's Panampilly Nagar branch on may 3 morning, and asked the staff to down shutters, bank sources said.

PTI