Thiruvananthapuram | A protest march by the SFI, the student wing of opposition CPI(M), to the Keralam Secretariat against alleged police action against students protesting the "saffronisation" of universities turned tense on Wednesday, with police using water cannons and resorting to minor force.

The Students Federation of India alleged that the police used water cannons several times as its activists attempted to move towards the secretariat and that several students were injured in the lathi charge.

The student body also claimed that similar protests held at district centres across the state were met with police action.

In Palakkad, police used water cannons against an SFI protest march towards the office of the Superintendent of Police, it said.

The protests were held on Tuesday in connection with an incident at Kerala University during National Sports Day celebrations, where "Vande Mataram" was sung in full.

The SFI alleged that the programme was conducted in accordance with an RSS agenda and took out a march to the university headquarters in protest.

The organisation alleged that police personnel used force against the protesters, including women students, during the earlier march.