Rourkela: The call for a dawn-to-dusk bandh in Biramitrapur town passed off peacefully Wednesday with no untoward incidents being reported. Even though most of the shops remained closed, other commercial establishments remained open. Educational institutions also remained open, but most of the students stayed away. The bandh was called as a mark of protest against the violence that erupted Monday night in Biramitrapur.
During the clash, two persons, identified as Mahabir Sharma and Deepak Sharma, were stabbed and suffered injuries. Both are undergoing treatment at the Rourkela General Hospital here and their condition is stated to be stable, officials said. The clash could have escalated, but did not do so because of prompt intervention by the police. The main accused in the stabbing incident is still absconding, police said. However, two people have so far been arrested and a few others have been detained for questioning, police informed. They added that some more arrests will be made in the next couple of days. It should be stated here that there was no formal call given for the bandh by any party. It was word of mouth passed on by people protesting against the stabbing of the two youths. Biramitrapur police station IIC Bandana Patra affirmed that the bandh had gone of peacefully. “This was a suo motto bandh call and it was peaceful,” Patra said. “Even though the bandh was called for 12 hours, normalcy returned by around 1.00pm. However, we are maintaining continuous vigil over the situation,” Patra added.
