34 arrested for vandalising bar in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The commissionerate police in Odisha on Monday arrested 34 people for ransacking the property of a bar and restaurant in Bhubaneswar on Saturday night, an official said on Monday.

According to the police, Sanjiv Swain, a students’ union leader affiliated to a political party, along with his few friends went to the Embassy bar-cum-restaurant on Saturday midnight at around 12 a.m.

However, the security personnel and gate keeper did not allow them inside the restaurant as the bar was closed at that time. Then, Swain had called his friends, who were waiting for him in a bus at Baramunda bus stand for a picnic party to Deokund in Mayurbhanj, said ACP Ramesh Bisoi.

After receiving a call from Swain, around 35 people, mostly students and businessmen, reached the bar and ransacked it by pelting stones from outside, Bisoi said. The miscreants also threatened the bar staff using slang words, he said.

In this connection, the police registered a case and arrested 34 persons, mostly of the age group of 18 to 28.

The police also seized the bus used by the miscreants. However, the prime accused Sanjiv Swain managed to escape.

(IANS)