VIMSAR row: Dawn-to-dusk shutdown hits life in Burla

Burla: A dawn-to-dusk strike called by residents of Burla, demanding arrest of those involved in the attack on Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science and Research (VIMSAR) director Ashwini Pujari, brought life to a standstill in the town on Monday.
Shops and other business establishments downed shutters while vehicular traffic was disrupted with the protestors, including local residents, lawyers and civil society organization members, picketing and staging road blockades at several places.
On the other hand, the PG students of VIMSAR have also launched an indefinite cease-work stir demanding Pujari’s resignation.
The row started on Friday night when PG students allegedly pelted the director’s house with stones. The locals claimed that the attack was the fallout of recent sting operations, which trapped a couple of doctors of VIMSAR attending to patients in private clinics during duty hours. Coming out in support of the director, they gheraoed the local police station and demonstrated in front of the hospital the following day. Pujari had also lodged a complaint with Burla police regarding the incident later that day.