ROURKELA: After four days of communal tension, Rourkela is limping back to normalcy. Shops and business establishments on the Rourkela Main road functioned normally till Friday evening even as Rourkela police arrested four more trouble mongers involved in inciting tension.
IG of Police (IGP), Western Range, R K Sharma said normalcy has been restored but deployment of existing 20 platoons of force and patrolling would continue. He said subsequently security scenario would be reviewed to scale down force deployment.
Rourkela SP Anirudh Singh said four more mischievous persons, who had instigated mob and also led small groups for rioting and vandalism, were arrested. Identification of other mischief mongers is underway and they would be booked soon. He added that the prevailing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC was further relaxed on Friday evening as shops were allowed to remain open till 9 pm in view of Biswakarma Puja being celebrated at many places.
Sources said the total number of arrest so far has reached 18 with 11 from majority community and seven from minority community.
Late on Monday night during Ganesh idol immersion procession, communal tension had broken out near the minority-dominated Nala road area of the Main Road stretch and incidents of arson and vandalism by both communities took place till police intervened.
On Tuesday too, a mob staged road blockade near the office of the Rourkela SP.
However, from Wednesday evening, prohibitory orders were made stricter with closure of shops from 6 pm.