Bhubaneswar: Life was disrupted in the pilgrim town of Puri Tuesday due to a shutdown called by the Bar Association to protest the killing of a lawyer and alleged deterioration in law and order.
Shops, business establishments, markets, educational institutions, banks and offices remained closed during the 12-hour bandh called by the Puri Bar Association against the recent killing of lawyer Laxmidhar Mohapatra.
While vehicular movement came to a grinding halt, train services were also affected for some time as protesters staged demonstrations and put up blockades at several places during the bandh that was supported by Congress, BJP and CPI-M.
In places like Medical Chowk, vehicle tyres were set on fire by the agitating lawyers and they lay strewn across roads, thus blocking the passage of a large number of vehicles that stood stuck at the entry point of the town, police said.
While passenger buses remained off the roads, the demonstrators held protests at the railway station, causing inconvenience to the commuters.
Puri Bar Association President Bijay Kumar Mishra alleged that a spurt in anti-social activities has led to the worsening law and order in the seaside town. Mishra said, lawyers are demanding an impartial and speedy probe into the advocate’s murder and arrest of all the culprits. Elsewhere in the state, lawyers condemned the killing and extended support to the bandh.
Additional Superintendent of Police Banbihari Sahu said two persons have already been arrested in connection with the lawyer’s killing.
Bhubaneswar-based social activist Smruti Mahapatra, meanwhile, claimed that some agitators misbehaved with her while she was travelling in a four-wheeler to participate in a religious event in the Holy City. “Some agitators stopped my vehicle at Subhas Bose Square. Despite knowing that I am a differently-abled person, they did not allow me to go and misbehaved with me. I will raise the issue with the Centre, the Chief Minister and Director General of Police.
Similarly, at least 20 visitors from Russia were forced to walk at least two kilometers to reach a hotel in the city. Sources said these Russian citizens have come to participate in an event in the Pilgrim City. According sources, some activists of CITU stopped the visitors’ vehicles at Subhas Bose Square.
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