Bhubaneswar: Vehicular traffic in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack came to a grinding halt as stray violence and hooliganism marred the ‘peaceful’ six-hour ‘Chakka bandh’ called by the opposition Congress as part of its protests against the steep hike in fuel prices in the country.
A large number of buses and trucks were stranded on the national highway connecting the twin-cities due to the protests from 6 am to 12 noon. Bus stands in the two cities were crowded with passengers stranded for long hours, the police said. Auto-rickshaws were also off the roads while people avoided taking out their own vehicles and some two-wheelers were seen plying on the streets.
In a sharp contrast to the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik’s earlier statement that the protests will be peaceful and voluntary, the bandh supporters were seen resorting to violence at various parts of the twin-cities forcing commuters to keep their vehicles off the road till 12 noon.
In Bhubaneswar, Congress activists were seen picketing near Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh holding placards and flags and by burning tyres on the road.
The party activists were also seen stopping vehicles including trucks and buses on highways leading to the traffic chaos.
Several protesters were detained by police near AG Square in Bhubaneswar while they were trying to stage a demonstration, police said.
The ‘Chakka bandh’ supporters allegedly attacked a Khapuria ITI college student near Madhupatna Chhak in Cuttack while he was heading towards Gopalpur bridge for not keeping his vehicle off the road and not supporting the protest. The victim, who lodged a police complaint, said that he sustained head and hand injuries in the attack.
“A group of bandh supporters intercepted me while I was heading towards Gopalpur bridge and thrashed me for plying vehicle during the bandh hours,” he said.
In Cuttack, Congress activists held picketing in several areas including Madhupatna, Jagatpur, Sikharpur and Badambadi and allegedly stopped people from using vehicles during the ‘chakka bandh.’
Stray violence was also reported from a few other localities in the twin-cities.
Police, however, said that the protests remained peaceful as elaborate security arrangements were in place and forces had been deployed to prevent untoward incidents.
OPCC chief Patnaik said Congress had requested people of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack not to use their vehicles from 6 am to 12 pm as a mark of protest against unprecedented rise in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG and the call given by the party was supported by the public.
Cuttack district Congress president Mohammed Moquim said the protests received overwhelming support from people who were badly affected by the soaring oil prices.
Patnaik said the Centre should reduce excise duty on fuel in order to provide relief to the common people. The state government should also cut VAT on petrol and diesel to provide some relief to the public, the PCC chief said.
The ruling BJD welcomed the move of the Congress while it asked the national party to put pressure on the Centre to bring down the heavy excise duty it is extracting from petrol and diesel.
Vice-president of the state unit of BJP Samir Mohanty termed the ‘chakka bandh’ as ‘Goonda Raj’, saying, the police and the administration kept mum while the commuters faced hardship for hours.
