SAMBALPUR: At least 22 Congress leaders and workers, including several senior party functionaries, were detained on Saturday after being called to the Town police station on the pretext of a discussion over an upcoming party programme.
The detentions took place during CM Mohan Charan Majhi’s visit to Sambalpur for a series of official engagements. Among those detained were PCC secretary and Congress MLA candidate for Rengali, Dilip Duria who alleged that they had been misled into attending the meeting.
Duria told TNIE he had received a call from the ASP and Town police station inviting him for a discussion on the upcoming Congress programme, including the proposed June 10 visit of Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar.
Sources said the police detained the Congress functionaries as a preventive measure during the CM’s visit. Until last reports came in, none of the detained leaders and workers had been released. Efforts to obtain a response from additional SP Srimanta Barik and other police officials proved futile.