Balasore: Tension prevailed at Kamarda Bazar in Odisha’s Balasore district during a crackdown by excise officials against brown sugar peddlers on Monday.
Opposing the arrest of a woman in the alleged brown sugar peddling, her family members had a severe altercation with the excise team and they even snatched the keys of their vehicle. Later they staged a protest on the road demanding her immediate release.
Sources said, acting on a tip-off a team of excise officials raided a house in Kamarda Bazar. They arrested a woman for her alleged involvement in the brown sugar peddling.
However, her family members had a severe face-off with the excise team. They claimed she was being falsely implicated. Pleading her innocence, they stated the material seized from her house was a cosmetic powder ‘Multani Mitti’ and not brown sugar as claimed by the excise sleuths.
The angry family members even snatched excise team’s vehicle keys to detain them. But when the excise team finally managed to arrest the woman, they staged a protest on the road. After being informed, Kamarda police rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the protesters. But they threatened to continue their protest until the woman is released, sources added.
