BJP Workers Block Highway In Bhubaneswar Protesting Corporator’s Arrest; Traffic Disrupted

Bhubaneswar: Workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJD) staged a demonstration and blockade on the National Highway-16 at Satsang Vihar in Bhubaneswar on Saturday protesting the arrest of a party corporator.

Following the protest, vehicular movement was disrupted on the highway causing inconvenience to commuters. A large number of vehicles including ambulances, trucks, buses, and cars moving towards Cuttack as well as Khurda were stranded on the NH for over an hour as the saffron workers blocked the highway.

The protesters holding party flags and banners raised slogans in protest against the arrest of BJP corporator of Ward No. 29 Aparup Narayan Rout alias Jeevan by the police.

As per reports, Rout was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with a woman ASI in Bhubaneswar and a case registered at the Mancheswar Police Station in this connection. Following his arrest, he was produced before a local court on Friday. The court sent him to Jharpada Jail rejecting his bail application.

It was alleged that Rout created ruckus hindering construction work carried out by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) near Hi-Tech Hospital Chhak late on Thursday night.

He allegedly abused the NHAI officials engaged in road construction work. When a PCR team led by woman ASI Anjana Baral intervened in an effort to ensure resumption of the construction work, the corporator allegedly misbehaved with her.

Taking a tough view of the incident, the Mancheswar police arrested Rout and registered a case under sections 341, 332, 294, 353, 354, 379, 506, 34 and 185 of MV Act).

Terming the allegations as baseless, the BJP workers claimed that the police arrested the corporator without any reason.