Bhubaneswar: Police on Thursday picked up over 70 protesters in Bhubaneswar during the 12-hour dawn-to-dusk Odisha Bandh called by the Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan to demand ‘price, prestige and pension’ for farmers.
The protesters, holding placards and raising slogans saying “Ganatantra banchao, Chasi banchao(save democracy, save farmers)”, picketed several places in the city, disrupting vehicular traffic.
The police cleared traffic after taking 70 protesters under preventive arrest. “The commissionerate police have made elaborate security arrangements to maintain law and order in the twin cities,” police commissioner Satyajit Mohanty told mediapersons.
“Thirty platoons of armed police have been deployed in Bhubaneswar and 15 in Cuttack. As per latest information, the police have taken 70-80 protesters under preventive arrest from Master Canteen Square, Kalpana Square and Sikharchandi Square in Bhubaneswar. Unlike Bhubaneswar, the bandh was partial in Cuttack.”
Claiming that normal life in the twin cities was unaffected, Mohanty said the commissionerate police has requested residents to dial 100 if they need urgent help.
Fearing that the Congress and BJP’s support for the bandh would create law and order problems, Utkal University and Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University authorities postponed exams that were scheduled on Thursday.
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