Night curfew continues in Bhadrak; BJD councillor arrested

Police arrested Subhankar Mohapatra, Councilor in Bhadrak Municipality, for his alleged involvement in the violent incidents on April 7.

BHADRAK: Town police arrested Councillor of Ward 15, Subhankar Mohapatra, on Sunday in connection with the communal tension in Bhadrak.

Informing this, Inspector in-charge (IIC) of town police station Manoj Rout said  Subhankar was arrested on charges of instigating violence during the communal flare-up on April 7 in Bhadrak town. Subhankar is the son of local BJD leader Laxmi Mohapatra.

Bhadrak SP Anup Sahu said with Subhankar’s arrest, the total number of persons nabbed so far has gone up to 165 and over 80 FIRs have been lodged by victims till Sunday.

Sources said police have a target to arrest over 300 alleged mischief mongers and persons involved in loot and arson during the violence. The IIC said most of the accused are absconding and efforts are on to trace and nab them all.

Meanwhile, the violence-ravaged town is limping back to normalcy but the curfew from 6 pm to 6 am continues to be effective as a precautionary measure.

With police sparing no effort to nab all those involved in the violence, many men fear to move out even when the curfew is relaxed. A youth in Puruna Bazaar said, “I cannot go to my job, as there is a rumour that police will arrest youths of my village. Besides,  hundreds of men who go out of the town for small businesses have stopped doing so as they cannot reach before 6 pm”, said Assif Khan, a pheriwala.
The Bhadrak SP said police are maintaining a close watch on the situation and steps will soon be taken to relax curfew for a few hours during evening. Discussion with the leaders of both the communities is on regarding restoration of peace, he added.

Regarding the report on loss and damage to property in the violence, Collector Gyanaranjan Das said a final report after proper scrutiny will be submitted on Monday.

The District Headquarters town of Bhadrak had plunged into communal violence 10 days back after offensive posts on Lord Ram and other Hindu deities on social media triggered a wave of hate and loot in and around the town.

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