Khandapara: Protesting against the arrest of 10 inhabitants, over 500 villagers of Bodasa village under Khandapara block in Nayagarh district staged an overnight demonstration and picketed the police station since Sunday.
The demonstration continued Monday.
Locals said there existed a long-standing dispute over the right of entrance into the village’s Shiva temple between some Dalit families and the rest of the villagers. Earlier, a case was registered in this connection June 10, but no arrests were made.
Later, the dispute took an ugly turn Sunday morning when some rival villagers pulled down the houses of Dalit families.
On receipt of information, Khandapara police reached the spot and launched a probe into the incident. Later, based on a complaint by the Dalits, police registered a case and arrested 10 villagers later Sunday night in this connection.
This did not go down well with the rival villagers who condemned the arrest of the 10 persons. So, the villagers walked a distance of 7km and staged a demonstration in front of the police station that same night.
“The police did not take any action when we had earlier lodged a complaint June 10. But, they arrested 10 persons based on the complaints of the Dalits today. We suspect, the cops are in hands with the Dalits,” a villager Pratap Kumar Samantaray said adding they would continue the demonstration till the release of our fellow villagers.
