50 BJP activists detained in Dhenkanal ahead of BJD rally

Dhenkanal: With BJP and BJD at loggerheads over the Manamunda incident, as many as 50 BJP activists were detained by the police and taken into preventive custody in Dhenkanal ahead of a scheduled rally by the ruling party to protest Chhattisgarh’s ongoing projects on the upper catchment of the Mahanadi river.

Former BJP MP Rudra Narayan Pani and a party councilor were among those detained by the police as a preventive measure.

Ministers Prafulla Mallick, Sanjay Dasburma and other leaders of the ruling-BJD are scheduled to address the protest rally.

As many as six platoons of police force have been deployed in the city. Police also carried out a flag march in the morning.