'Break their legs': Odisha cop says statement during protest taken 'out of context'

As Odisha grieves for the loss of lives during the Rath Yatra stampede, a viral video of a police officer instructing his team to 'break their (protesters) legs' has enraged social media users.

Congress members were arranging a protest outside of the residence of Odisha Chief Minister, Mohan Charan Majhi, about the lives lost during the annual Jagannath Rath Yatra, which also left many injured. They blamed mismanagement and negligence of the ruling party as the cause of the incident.

Barricades were set up to keep the protestors out of the compound grounds, and Bhubaneshwar Additional Commissioner of Police Narasingha Bhol was a supervising officer.

In the video, ACP Narasingha Bhol had instructed his officers to use maximum force against any protester who crosses the barricades. "Break their legs if they come till this barricade. Do not arrest them, just break their legs. Then, you can come and take a reward from me," he can be heard saying.

"Yes, sir, Yes, sir," his team of officers are heard complying.

Following the video going viral and sparking outrage, the Congress members have called his statements 'violent' and 'undemocratic.'

Officer Bhol informed that his words were take out of context. "There is a place, time and context in everything. Where was it happening, when was it happening... If you see the video, I told the personnel that 'we are there to arrest them'," he mentioned in his statement to NDTV.

"Before reaching the spot where I was standing, there were two barricades. The order was to detain unruly protesters at the first barricade itself. However, if somebody breached the two barricades and went beyond them, then that person has already broken the law. He is part of an unlawful assembly," Bhol added.

"We are free to apply maximum force to stop unlawful assembly," he further informed NDTV.

The stampede occurred near Shree Gundicha Temple in Puri, killing 3 people and injuring 50 others. Odisha's Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan announced that the stampede's administrative inquiry will be completed in 30 days.