Odisha: Congress workers clash with police during protest rally
Bhubaneswar: An angry face-off ensued between the Congress workers and the police during the protest rally over women’s safety in the Lower PMG area in Odisha on Thursday.
Some Congress workers and media personnel also sustained injuries during the scuffle with the police.
The clashes ensued when police tried to stop the Congress workers’ march towards the Odisha Assembly. Meanwhile, some of the protestors threw stones, chairs, eggs, etc. at the forces who resorted to the lathi charge to disperse the Congress workers. The police also used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the Congress workers at the PMG square.
The area became a battleground between the protestors and the police and later also detained senior leaders of the Congress party including former MLA Mohammed Moquim, Odisha PCC President Bhakta Charan Das, Congress Odisha in-charge Ajay Lallu, Congress legislature party leader Rama Chandra Kadam to bring the situation under control.
“Police used Lathi, tear gas and water cannons. This government is oppressive. They suspended our 14 MLAs over the issue of women’s atrocities. We demanded a ‘House Committee’ on women’s atrocities-related issues, but in return, our supporters were beaten. We are the army of Rahul Gandhi, we will not be afraid of any threat,” said AICC in-charge Lallu.
Amidst the heavy security arrangements and barricading on the roads connecting to the Odisha Assembly, hundreds of Congress workers and leaders on Thursday began their protest rally to gherao the Odisha Assembly against the alleged increase in the cases of crime against women in the state under the BJP rule.
To avoid any untoward incident during the rally, the Commissionerate Police deployed 80 platoons of police force at important places in the city.
Since March 7, during the second phase of the Assembly session, opposition Congress members have been holding protests demanding the formation of a ‘House Committee’ to investigate the alleged rise in atrocities against women in the state.
Following continuous ruckus by the Congress MLAs in the Assembly, Speaker Surama Padhy suspended 14 Congress legislators on Tuesday and Wednesday over alleged “unruly behaviour”.