Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of young men under the banner of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) — the student wing of Congress party — Friday attempted to gatecrash into Odisha Assembly demanding justice for murdered Kalahandi school teacher Mamita Meher.
Quite like BJP youth outfit Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) workers Thursday, the NSUI workers clashed with police at Lower PMG area of Bhubaneswar ahead of breaking a security cordon.
According to a source, the otherwise peaceful agitation suddenly turned violent after the party workers tried to enter Assembly premises. As the security personnel tried to stop them from trespassing into the Assembly, clashes broke out and the activists hurled eggs and rotten tomatoes at on-duty policemen.
Some of the NSUI workers reached the main gate of the Assembly while the Winter Session was underway, the source said.
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Later, the policemen baton-charged the protesters to bring the situation under control. Platoons of police chased the violent agitators into Congress Bhawan while many of them ran inside the building.
“Many Congress party workers were injured during the lathi-charge. Several of them have been arrested for breaching security cordon and creating disturbances in the high-security zone,” an official said.
The Congress workers had staged an agitation earlier in the day over Mamita murder and seeking ouster of minister Dibya Shankar Mishra.
It is pertinent to mention, the stretch from Master Canteen to PMG Square turned into a battleground Thursday after a clash broke out between BJYM workers and police personnel over Mamita murder case.
Hundreds of the BJYM workers took out a procession towards the Legislative Assembly demanding dismissal of Mishra. They were stopped by police close to the second barricade set up by the police at Lower PMG area.
After the protestors turned violent, police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse them. The irked protestors pelted stones at the police and ransacked eight vehicles. The violence left 15 policemen injured while BJP alleged that many of its workers also sustained injuries. Some media persons covering the incident were also injured in the clashes.
PNN