Tension Prevails In Odisha’s Bhadrak Town As 3 Police Personnel Injured In Stone Pelting

Bhadrak: Tension prevailed in Odisha’s Bhadrak town on Friday as a group of locals pelted stones at police, rendering three personnel injured, during a demonstration against police inaction on an ‘objectionable’ social media post.

According to sources, some local persons had filed a complaint with the police against the social media post and demanded arrest of the person involved in the post. As the police reportedly did not take any step on the complaint, around 50 people took out a rally as a mark of protest in the afternoon.

As the protesting people reached Sathia, on the outskirts of Bhadrak town, the police stopped them and told them not to enter the town. This led to an argument between the protesters and the police.

Soon, the argument escalated into heated exchange of words and scuffle between the demonstrators and the police. Even as the police were outnumbered by the agitators, the former tried to disperse the latter by resorting to lathi-charge.

This aggravated the situation and the agitated people started pelting stones at the police. In the attack, three police personnel sustained serious injuries. IIC of Bhadrak Town police station Ajay Sudarshan and SI Rojen Murmu sustained head injuries and rushed to the local hospital.

Bhadrak City DSP Ansuman Dwivedi was also hit on his legs and the violent agitators damaged the official vehicle of the tehsildar.

Following the incident, tension prevailed in the area and the district administration deployed seven platoons of police to prevent further escalation of violence and maintain law and order, the sources said.