BHUBANESWAR: Peeved over being refused to host a cricket tournament in a school field, locals on Sunday blocked the roads along Laxmisagar Square disrupting vehicular movement for over an hour.
Sources said the cricket tournament was supposed to have taken place at the Laxmisagar High School field. However, the school authorities approached the police after the locals inaugurated the cricket tournament without obtaining their permission.
After police reached the spot at about 10 am and stopped the game, locals resorted to road blockade in Laxmisagar area from 1 pm onwards. Police, however, dispersed them off later.
“A case was registered against at least 30 people for blocking the road and obstructing police from performing their duties,” said Laxmisagar IIC Shyam Sundar Rao. Probe is underway and further action will be taken accordingly, he added.
Sources said the locals had been organising the tournament in the school field for the last over 20 years without obtaining permission from the authorities. The school’s playground was recently developed by the Odisha Mining Corporation.
While the field was developed primarily for the students, locals were allowed to play there too, but only after obtaining permission from the school authorities. However, not only did they ignore obtaining permission to host the tournament but they also allegedly collected entry fee from other participating teams.
Meanwhile, the protesters alleged police stopped the game as they had not invited any local BJP leader as a guest during the inauguration of the tournament.