Sambalpur: A day after police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd staging a demonstration over death of a minor boy after a bus hit him in Odisha’s Sambalpur, the local people staged a road blockade demanding compensation to the bereaved family on Thursday.
The agitating people along with the body of Class IX student blocked the road in the city demanding Rs 50 lakh compensation to his family. They also demanded release of the persons detained by police on Wednesday and restriction on heavy vehicles plying inside the city after 6 pm.
As palpable tension prevailed in the area, additional police were redeployed with senior officers to maintain law and order.
Additional SP Harish Chandra Pandey told the media that the situation was under control as no untoward incident has been reported on the day. As a precautionary measure, two platoons of police have been deployed in the area.
He further said the district SP has ordered an investigation into Wednesday night’s incident. The district officials were talking to the people staging road blockade and the buses have been stopped from plying on the route.
It may be noted that the student was going on a scooter to a chemist store to buy medicines for his mother when the bus hit him, killing him on the spot.
Soon after the accident, a large number of locals gathered at the site, demanding stringent action against the driver of the bus. Shouting slogans, the protesters opposed the movement of buses and heavy vehicles on the crowded route in the evening.
Police rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the agitators, whose number continued to swell gradually. However, the situation turned tense as police tried to vacate the spot. This led to a confrontation between agitators and police resorted to lathi-charge to prevent the situation from slipping out of control. The police also detained 12 people from the spot.
