Tension flares up again in Bhadrak as peace committee talks fail

Bhubaneswar: Communal tension once again gripped Bhadrak on Friday after the peace committee meeting among heads of religious groups reportedly failed. Though details of the discussion are yet to be known, sources said the meet could not reach a consensus to deal with the untoward situation in the region.

Reports reaching here said, a group of angry mob squatted on the road near Nua Bazar Chhak and demanded police action against the ‘wrongdoers’. They too had a heated argument with the police as the latter tried to pacify the irate locals.

Some police vehicles have also been damaged in the melee, reports suggested.

Police said Section 144, clamped in view of the violent situation yesterday is still in force.

A day after tension over some religious comments posted on social media erupted in the city, the situation saw some improvement with no untoward incident reported from anywhere in the town till early this morning. Shops at various places in the town were open and buses also started plying in the town.

But the peace committee meet, convened to restore normalcy in the city reportedly failed triggering further tension in the region.

Nearly 15 platoons of police force have been deployed in the town and patrolling is on at various places to keep any untoward incident at bay.