Clashes outside Odisha assembly: Protestors thrash woman cop

Bhubaneswar: Thousands of Congress workers in Bhubaneshwar clashed with police after trying to storm the Assembly building there, to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, alleging his involvement in the coal allocation scam. Several protesters as well as 60 policemen have been injured, including a woman officer.

The protesters had gathered to demand the resignation of Mr Patnaik, alleging his involvement in the coal allocation scam. Police had put prohibitory orders in the area, which the Congress workers defied. Some of the protesters were armed with sticks. BJD MP Pinaki Mishra claimed that many of the protesters were drunk and said that most of them were “lumpen” elements.

Odisha Director General of Police Prakash Mishra told NDTV that the protesters were “armed with stones and sticks”. He also said that while the police was prepared for a crowd of up to 25,000, they were not prepared for the “organised hooliganism” that broke out. The DGP said that apart from a couple of hundred, most of the crowd had dispersed. He said the situation was brought under control in a couple of hours. He also told NDTV that the police had been restrained in its response and had not used any violence to deal with the crowd.

Congress MP Pradeep Manjhi claimed that his party workers were protesting peacefully and the police attacked them. “We will not give up the protests till the Naveen Patnaik government is removed from the state,” Mr Manjhi said. Mr Patnaik rejected Congress’ allegations. He said, “Various Congress leaders are continuing with their old habit of making false allegations against the state government.” He is in the third year of a record third successive term as the chief minister.

Most of the injuries took place when the crowd broke through one of the barricades put up the police, which had to use tear gas to try and control the situation. Local media has reported that close to 30,000 Congress workers had reached Bhubaneshwar to take part in the protest and gherao the assembly building. The state government has 30 additional platoons of police in the capital to tackle the situation.

The state Congress is protesting alleged scams in mining, water, dal, MGNREGS, coal, fertilisers, Indira Awas Yojana and BPL rice.