Sambalpur: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday called a 12-hour bandh in 14 districts of western Odisha to protest against the violence during Hanuman Jayanti in Sambalpur.
The bandh, which began at 6am and will continue till 6pm in the evening on Wednesday, affected normalcy in Sambalpur, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sundargarh, Bolangir, Sonepur, Boudh, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri, and Rayagada districts.
Shops and business establishments were shut down in these districts.
Police personnel were deployed at important junctions in the affected districts to prevent any untoward incident.
ASP, Sambalpur, Tapan Kumar Mohanty said there has been no report of any untoward incident in the district so far.
Agitators demanded stringent action against those responsible for the violence in Sambalpur.
“We will observe a state-wide strike if no action is taken against those guilty within 48 hours,” Subhransu Sekhar Satpathy, VHP secretary, Odisha, said.
“During the Hanuman Jayanti procession last week, people were pelted with stones. Stringent action is not being taken against them. So, we have called for the bandh but all emergency vehicles, students who have exams have been excluded from the protest,” said another protesting VHP worker.
BJP state unit president Manmohan Samal alleged that the police acted in a partisan manner and allowed mischief-mongers to go scot-free and arrested some innocent people.The Sambalpur district administration, meanwhile, relaxed curfew following improvement in situation. No fresh violence was reported since April 14.
“Curfew has been relaxed from 7am to 6 pm as the situation has improved,” Sambalpur Collector Ananya Das said.
Hitting out at the bandh, BJD spokesperson Srimayee Mishra said that such type of politics has always been the strategy of BJP.
“The police have taken tough action against those involved in stone pelting and violence. The perpetrators, including those who instigate, will face the law. When students are appearing for examinations in schools, no one should announce a bandh and harass them”, she said.
Meanwhile, Sambalpur is gradually limping back towards normalcy with district administration resuming internet services in Kuchinda, Rairakhol, Naktideul, Jujumara, Bamra and Jamankira areas.
However, the suspension of internet services in Sambalpur town has been extended by another 24 hours till 10am on Thursday
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