Roads and national highways were blocked in various places and state-owned buses were stoned as the flash hartal called by the Youth Congress, to protest the killing of two of its activists allegedly by ruling CPI(M) workers, began in Kerala Monday.

The state-wide dawn-to-dusk hartal was called past midnight by the Youth Congress leadership through social media, hours after its workers -Sarath Lal and Kripesh - were hacked to death in northern Kasaragod district.