Odisha Police on Friday entered Congress Bhawan, the office of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), while chasing the party’s cadres, who were agitating over the alleged inaction in the Mamita Meher murder case.
The student wing of the Odisha Congress had staged a demonstration along the city’s Mahatma Gandhi Marg, demanding the ouster of the Minister of State for Home, Dibya Shankar Mishra, who is alleged to have had links with the murder accused.
During the demonstration, Congress student wing members tried to enter the State Assembly and the police prevented them from doing so. The two sides attacked each other and nobody was ready to back off. In the ensuing melee, both Congress workers and police personnel sustained injuries.
“The police resorted to indiscriminate thrashing of our party members. After the planned meeting, when Congress cadres were heading in different directions, police came from nowhere and attacked them. Our members tried to take shelter in the party office to escape from police brutality. However, police personnel chased them into our office,” OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik alleged, adding that this was unacceptable.
Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Uma Shankar Das, however, said that police personnel deployed to maintain law and order in front of the State Assembly came under attack from about 500 to 1,000 youth who had sticks, eggs and tomatoes in their hands.
“During the agitation, police maintained extreme restraint while at the same did not let anyone break the security cordon. Some agitators torched a police van. Presence of fire service personnel saved the situation, otherwise it would have gone out of control,” Mr. Das said.
The DCP said three to four police personnel had suffered serious injuries. “We have video clippings of the police being attacked by agitators. We will take legal action after identifying the culprits,” he said.
Subsequently, members of the Odisha Congress’ student wing regrouped and sat on a dharna, demanding action against the police. Senior Congress leaders demanded a thorough probe into the police action.
This is second major confrontation between the police and agitators in the last 48 hours. On Thursday, members of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party sustained serious injuries when the police resorted to a lathi charge. They too were demanding action against the Minister of State for Home. Several BJP workers were admitted to the Capital Hospital here.
