Battleground Bhubaneswar: Congress workers clash with police over crimes against women, 25 injured

Bhubaneswar: Around 25 people were injured as Congress supporters clashed with police in Bhubaneswar on Thursday after being stopped from marching to the assembly, seeking a high-level probe into crimes against women that they allege have increased during the tenure of the BJP, which came to power last June.

Among those injured were 15 police personnel, most of whom were hit by stones thrown by the protesters after being stopped on the Mahatma Gandhi Marg in the heart of the city, an officer said.

Around 2,400 police personnel were deployed on the roads leading to the assembly, which was turned into a fortress, ahead of the 'Vidhan Sabha Gherao' programme.

As the Congress workers successfully breached the security cordon and broke the first barricades, police began a lathi charge, besides using tear gas shells, and water cannons.

The Congress, which has been vociferously raising the issue in the assembly over the last few weeks leading to the suspension of its multiple MLAs, alleged that the police used excess force on the protesters who were demanding an all-party House Committee to probe the cases, and could have arrested them instead.

Police said they were compelled to use force as the protesters hurled stones, bottles and chairs at the on-duty security personnel after breaking the first barricade.

The state BJP demanded stringent action against those who attacked the police.

"Fifteen police personnel were injured in the stone pelting by the protestors. The conditions of four of them were serious. A TV journalist also sustained a head injury," Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Narasingha Bhola said.

The Congress leadership had assured the police that they would not violate the law, but they attacked the police personnel, he said.

DGP YB Khurania, who met the injured police personnel in the hospital, said stringent action will be taken against the lawbreakers.

Deputy Commissioner Police Jagmohan Meena said, "Some people in the crowd have also sustained injuries. All are being treated at the Capital Hospital."

The protesters violated prohibitory orders under BNSS Section 163, which were imposed in the area due to the ongoing budget session of the assembly, he said.

The situation is under control at present, but stringent vigil is being maintained on all roads leading to the assembly, he said.

"We have received information that there was an attempt to set a police vehicle on fire. The driver of the van luckily managed to thwart it. We are probing the incident," Meena said.

State Congress president Bhakta Charan Das, who led the protesters and later courted arrest, alleged, "The police used excess force and attacked the activists while they were on the way to the assembly. There was no point in assaulting the protestors. The police could have arrested them instead."

"Many of our workers have been injured, and the conditions of four of them were serious. The activists are being treated in different hospitals. We are not afraid of arrests," he added.

Congress leaders claimed that around 10 activists were hurt in the police action, and among them was the party's former state president, Jaydev Jena, who sustained injury on his hands, and AICC member Roselina Tirkey.

Congress in-charge of Odisha Ajay Kumar Lallu condemned the "police brutality" on party workers.

In the evening, state BJP president Manmohan Samal visited the Capital Hospital and met the injured police personnel and the journalist undergoing treatment there.

"We strongly condemn the attack on the police and journalists on duty. There is no place for criminals in politics. However, Congress has been encouraging all such criminal activities," he told reporters.

"The people responsible for the incident should be punished," he said.

Senior Congress leader Prasad Harichandan, who met the injured Congress workers in the hospital, alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to derail the rally.

"Our people were unarmed. They did not hurl stones at the police as is being claimed. It is a conspiracy against the Congress as its rally was highly successful. The BJP had hired criminals who pelted stones at the police to blame Congress workers," he alleged.

The Congress had lost the opposition space to the BJP in the BJD's last few years in the government. After the BJP came to power in the state last June, it is leaving no stone unturned to recapture the space, even as it won a far lesser number of seats than the main opposition BJD, which is still licking its wounds from the poll drubbing.