Anti-liquor stir: 10 SHG women injured

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Deogarh: At least 10 members of women self-help groups (SHGs) were injured after miscreants brutally beat them up during a demonstration against the construction of a country liquor den in Palsama panchayat under Riamal block in this district Tuesday.
Over 500 women of 35 SHGs as well as their male counterparts were staging a sit-in over construction of a liquor shop on the fringes of Babaji Math Sahi and Baghabar in Palsama panchayat when a fight broke out between them and the liquor shop owner.
Enraged by the protest, the liquor shop owner and his supporters launched an attack on the agitating women with lathis sending them run helter-skelter fearing for their lives. They were not even spares when they ran into a nearby jungle. They were pelted with stones and beaten up with lathis. They even let off their pet dogs on the agitating women.
At least 10 women were rendered critical in the incident while three of them were admitted to Deogarh district headquarters hospital.
The miscreants even did not spare media persons who had gone there to cover the event. Reporters were also beaten up and rendered critical. Tension was palpable in the area as local police had not reached the spot.
The problem started when women SHG members and residents started protesting construction of a country liquor shop in their area. They tried to stop the liquor shop construction and met the administration several times but in vain. They finally made up their mid to stop the work and marched towards the site and were staging a sit-in which enraged the liquor shop owner.
They demanded that work should stop but the liquor shop owner refused to listen to them and carried on with his work. This led to a heated brawl between the two groups when some men carrying lathis attacked the women staging the sit-in. Deogarh SP Rahul Jain was informed over phone but police are yet arrive at the spot, sources said.