Dhamnagar: Seventy four years ago, nine freedom fighters felled to the bullets of British police at Lunia in Bhadrak district, but the historic site is yet to find a place in the state’s tourism map.
A proposal to accord tourist spot status to Lunia has been stuck in red-tapism for long, a report said.
During the Quit India Movement of 1942, public wrath against the British was gathering pace in all parts of the country after Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for it.
In Bhadrak, people of Dhusuri first intensified the movement against the British with frequent meetings whipping up public passion against the imperial rule.
Sardar Muralidhar Panda was leading the movement and spitting fire on the British. The imperial rulers were panicked and wanted to nab Panda.
Then British officer Major Fox had ordered nine policemen to capture Panda. Police came to Sriganga where Panda was holding a huge gathering of people a day before the shootout.
After reaching Sriganga, the police found none there and went to Lunia. Before taking punitive action, the police worked out a strategy under a banyan tree at Chandiapasi in the wee hours of September 22, 1942.
However, the freedom fighters were tipped off about the arrival of police. Panda also drew up an action plan to counter the police. As part of the plan, the freedom fighters were alerted to be ready for counter offensive.
Conches were blown aloud and frequently so that local people could be ready for a fight. People from several villages converged around the British police.
Cornered, the police had no way but to surrender themselves before the angry mob. Their guns were snatched away by the people. But the police personnel were Oriyas. They played a trick to convince the mob – that though they were serving the British, they actually supported the locals.
The agitating people were tricked into returning the guns to the police. The British police then rained a barrage of bullets on the freedom fighters, killing nine and injuring over a hundred of them. The place was streaked with the sacrificial blood of innocent people.
Those who fell to bullets were Gopinath Jena, Chintamani Das, Shankar Behera, Agani Sahu, Nidhi Mahalik, Krushna Mahalik, Shyam Mahalik, Nabakishore Nayak and Gouri Jena.
In memory of the supreme sacrifice of the freedom fighters, a memorial pillar has been set up at Lunia, the place now known as Sahid Nagar.
Every year September 22, local people along with members of Sahid Smruti Committee gather near a pond at Lunia and pay homage to the martyrs.
In order to give more prominence to the site, locals have long been demanding tourist spot status to the area, but the proposal has remained unrealised at the government level.
Locals said that culture minister during his visit to the place had assured them of declaring it a tourist site. Later, the district administration identified land in the area and necessary documents were submitted through the collector.
“But the government is yet to declare Lunia a tourist spot,” lamented Raghunath Lenka, vice-president of Sahid Smruti Committee. PNN