Cuttack: While the festival season in Odisha has commenced with the celebration of Ganesh Puja, the state police has decided to take stringent action against the forcible collection of chanda (donation) during this period.
Director General of Police (DGP) BK Sharma has instructed the district Superintendents of Police and Cuttack and Bhubaneswar commissionerate police to deal with this illegal practice with an iron hand and take all precautionary measures for smooth and incident-free festivals.
“The festival season has begun in the state with the celebration Sri Ganesh Puja and it will continue till Baliyatra and Kartikeswar Puja. This period is a very tough time for police as many anti-socials and mischief mongers try to create disturbances in society in the name of religion and festival. Forcible collection of chanda (donation) is very rampant during this period and it sometimes causes serious law and order situation in the state. The worst victims of this illegal practice are common people, transport operators and business establishments,” the DGP said.
Acting on the DGP’s directive, police have so far registered five cases and arrested 13 persons in the state.
While Khandagiri police in Bhubaneswar have registered a case in this connection and arrested one person, Chandili police in Rayagada district have arrested seven persons and registered two cases. Similarly, Hemagiri police in Sundargarh district have arrested four persons and Kamakhyanagar police in Dhenkanal District have arrested one person.
