Cuttack: Congress workers and leaders staged a demonstration near the office of Odisha’s Director General of Police (DGP) at Cuttack on Friday alleging rise in incidents of crime against women in the state.
The protesters, led by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das, accused the police of having failed to arrest the miscreants involved in the death of the 15-year-old girl of Balanga in Puri district.
The demonstrators shouting slogans and holding placards and banners took out a march from Mata Matha to DGP’s office. They also submitted a memorandum addressed to the state police chief demanding concrete action in the recent self-immolation cases at Balanga and FM College in Balasore.
The demonstrators also raised the issue of the self-immolation of a 20-year-old college student in Pattamundai area of Kendrapada district allegedly due to blackmailing by her ex-boyfriend.
In view of the Congress protest, security was tightened near the DGP office with the deployment of around 15 platoons of force, while 70 senior police officials supervised the arrangements.
Alleging that police are no longer working under the law, the Congress leaders claimed that they are acting on instructions from the state government. They accused the administration of trying to suppress the Balanga case instead of delivering justice under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).