Kendrapara: The situation in Kendrapara town is back to normal with no law and order incidents being reported in the last 24 hours.
Police deployment has been beefed up in the town, said SP Niti Sekhar.
Tension gripped the town Monday evening after a clash between two communities over a petty matter.
Hundreds of youths of one community staged a dharna in front of the Kendrapara Town police station Tuesday demanding the arrest of individuals belonging to another community for assaulting a middle aged man and his two sons Monday in Badahat village.
The government had banned Internet services for 48 hours from 11.30 am June 5 in Kendrapara town and nearby areas to prevent violence, as some people were circulating inflammatory messages on social media.
The government Wednesday sent ADG (law and order), Sanjeeb Panda and DIG Diptesh Pattanaik to the district to assess the situation. After reaching Kendrapara, the two senior IPS officials held talks with the Collector and the SP. They also held talks with the people of different groups.
The district administration organised a peace committee meeting Wednesday, by inviting the heads of the two communities.
The peace committee is headed by Sub-collector Sanjay Mishra, Additional SP Arun Kumar Jena and the ASP of Gajapati, Santanu Dash, who rushed to the district after the government directed him to go to Kendrapara.
Although peace talks were held its results were not known as some peace committee members said the Collector and the SP did not attend the meet even though they were in the district. The meet was chaired by the ADG.
The peace committee would meet again Friday as per the decision of the district administration, said some members of the committee.
No arrests have been made so far, said the SP said. Although the SP had assured the protesters who had staged a dharna in front of the Kendrapara Town police station that they would arrest the attackers within 24 hours the police have failed to do so. A youth was nabbed by the police, but he was released as he was found innocent.
Raids are on to arrest those involved in the attack. A police team led by Santanu Dash has been conducting raids to arrest those involved in the clash, the SP said, adding the police are keeping a close watch on the situation.
Meanwhile, anger is building up among the members of one community as the police have failed to arrest the attackers.
PNN
