BHUBANESWAR: The protests over Mamita Meher murder case spilled on to the streets with Mahatma Gandhi Road leading to Odisha Assembly witnessing a pitched battle between BJP youth workers and security forces on Thursday, December 9, 2021.
The saffron party activists attempted to make a forced entry by breaking police cordons to gherao Assembly and engaged in a scuffle with police. The police then resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.
While the BJP claimed that many of its workers were injured in the attack by police and undergoing treatment at different hospitals of the city, the police said at least 15 security personnel sustained injuries in stone-pelting by the agitators and eight vehicles were damaged. After visiting the injured police personnel under treatment at Capital Hospital, Commissioner of Police S K Priyadarshi told mediapersons that action will be taken as per the law.
As announced earlier by the BJP Yuva Morcha, hundreds of activists led by State youth president Irasis Acharya took out a massive rally from the party office to Assembly demanding the resignation of the Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra over his alleged involvement in the murder case. They were stopped by police at the Lower PMG as they tried to scale and break the barricade to head towards the Assembly.
The agitators vandalised some police vehicles at the spot and pelted stones at the cops. In a bid to disperse them, police had to resort to lathicharge. However, some women activists continued their protest by staging a sit-in dharna on the road when their march to the Assembly was stalled.
Acharya told mediapersons that they would not be cowed down by police action and further intensify the agitation till Mishra is not removed from the Council of Ministers and the case is handed over to CBI.
Addressing the BJYM members, State BJP president Samir Mohanty, deputy leader of the BJP in Assembly Bishnu Sethi, Opposition chief whip Mohan Charan Majhi and some party legislators came down heavily on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for neither coming to the Assembly nor taking action against the Minister.
Mohanty cautioned the government that the people will not tolerate and forgive any brutality against women.