Bhubaneswar: Balasore district administration has imposed a curfew in the entire town after the incident of communal clash which started on June the afternoon of June 17 in the Sunhat area over the suspicion of cow slaughter, took an ugly turn at late night.
“An indefinite curfew has been imposed across the town to control the situation. Due to the curfew, shops, markets, schools, and colleges will remain closed on June 18. I appeal to everybody not to come out of their homes ,” said SP Sagarika Nath
According to reports, after the communal clash on Monday afternoon, the violence spread to Golapokhri, Motiganj, Cinema Chowk of Balasore town at late night. Miscreants entered various colonies and threw stones at people’s houses. The police had to struggle to control the situation.
Eastern Range Police IG Dr Deepak Kumar and SP Sagarika Nath reached the spot and took stock of the situation. The administration decided to impose a curfew. All entrances to the city have been sealed. Former Union Minister and MP from Balasore Pratap Chandra Srangi and Baleshwar Sadar MLA Manas Dutt also reached the police station at night.
According to eye witnesses, some locals found water in the drains turning red on the side of Sunhat main road on Monday afternoon. After seeing water turning red they suspected it as cow blood. The local people expressed their displeasure after seeing this and protested. This resulted in a confrontation between the two groupss. Police and media representatives reached there after receiving information from the complainant in this regard. After that hundreds of people from the Muslim community gathered and attacked the complainant and threw stones and glass bottles.
Additional SP Anil Pradhan, SDPO Doctor Shashank Shekhar Beura, DSP Brajmohan Pradhan along with two town police officers and three constables who went to control them were seriously injured.
More than 10 people of the local area and common people passing by the road were also injured in the pelting of stones and glass bottles. They also attacked the people by stopping bikes, scooters and four-wheelers on the road. The media representatives who went to collect the news were also attacked and their camera were broken.
After a standoff between the two groups for nearly 2 hours, the armed police force led by Superintendent of Police Sagarika Nath reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
CM’s appeal
Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi held a discussion with Balasore District Magistrate to control the situation.
Shri Majhi said that peace and law and order situation will not be disturbed under any circumstances. Odisha is a peace loving state. He appealed to everyone to maintain peace.
