BHUBANESWAR: The ongoing protest by rideshare app drivers in the state capital turned violent on Wednesday as agitators allegedly pelted stones at security personnel and vandalised at least 10 city buses, prompting police to arrest over 100 persons.
The online cab drivers also vandalised two police vehicles. Police resorted to baton charge and used water cannons to bring the situation under control. Several taxi drivers were hurt, while Capital police station inspector-in-charge Radhakanta Sahu and 13 other police personnel sustained injuries in the attack by the protesters. The injured police personnel were admitted to Capital Hospital.
Traffic movement near Station Square was disrupted for several hours as Ola, Uber and Rapido taxi and bike drivers intensified their agitation.
Earlier, the demonstrators parked their auto-rickshaws on the roads to block traffic as part of the protest. Police mobilised cranes to remove the vehicles and attempted to persuade the agitators to clear the roads, but to no avail. A scuffle subsequently broke out between the protesters and police, following which the situation turned violent.
The protesters allegedly pelted stones at police personnel and broke the glass panels of 10 Ama buses parked by the roadside. In some cases, they also deflated the buses’ tyres. Though no passenger was injured, many fled the buses after the protesters began targeting the vehicles.
Police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators and eventually brought the situation under control.
Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena, who reached the spot to take stock of the situation, said around 1,000 protesters had gathered illegally near Station Square.
“The cab drivers were permitted to agitate on Monday, but they illegally continued the protest into the third day. Moreover, the government had no role to play in any of their demands,” he said.
A case was later registered at Kharavela Nagar police station against the agitators for unlawful protest. Around 100 protesters allegedly involved in stone-pelting and vandalism of Ama buses were apprehended from the spot.
“More arrests will be made after recording the statements of eyewitnesses and examining CCTV footage,” Meena said.
The strike severely affected commuters as hundreds of bikes, auto-rickshaws and taxis remained off the roads on Wednesday.
Even as the agitation disrupted transport services, the protesting taxi and auto drivers and bike riders working with private aggregators reiterated their demand for government regulation of online taxi fares and fixed rates for passengers. Around 30,000 cab and auto drivers and bike riders are currently working with different app-based companies.
Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena said nobody would be allowed to take the law into their own hands and that the government was willing to address the grievances of the protesting drivers.
