Cuttack, March 4: The state police headquarters at Buxi Bazar here was gheraoed by Congress activists, led by the party’s state unit president Prasad Harichandan Wednesday in protest against the arrest of party’s youth and student workers in ‘‘false and concocted cases.’’
Party leaders and members from different districts, led by Harichandan, participated in the protests. A scuffle ensued between the protesters and the police as the former tried to barge into the police headquarters, said sources.
As many as 30 platoons of police force led by 100 officers were deployed to keep the situation under control outside the office. A three-layer security ring was put in place at the protest site, sources added.
Later, a delegation of Congress leaders met DGP Sanjeev Marik and submitted a memorandum on the issues they were protesting over. ‘‘The spontaneous participation by the party activists in protest against BJD’s 14-year corrupt rule and rising police atrocities, was unexpected,’’ claimed Harichandan.
However, reacting to the development, BJD spokesperson Amar Parsad Satapathy said, ‘‘This is their (Cong) attempt to get cheap publicity and fool people.’’ He added action has been taken against Congress members as per law and the court has sent them to jail. ‘‘First, they should set their own house in order before pointing fingers at others,’’ he said.