4 injured in clash over space paucity at gram sabha in Odisha’s Angul dist

Odisha Sun Times Bureau:
Angul, Dec 27:

A gram sabha in Talagarh village under Angul block in Odisha turned into a cockfight on Friday as two groups clashed with each other protesting paucity in space.

The gram sabha was held amid disruptions and police surveillance.

As per reports, gram sabhas were earlier cancelled at the last moment on two occasions due to political acrimony between two groups in the village. After due consultation with gram panchayat officer and extension officer, block officials had scheduled the gram sabha on Friday afternoon at the panchayat office. However, due to a large turnout, the gram sabha witnessed interruptions by irate villagers alleging space constraint.

Former sarpanch Mayadhar Pradhan and his supporters, said the panchayat office was not the proper venue to hold the gram sabha in view of the unexpected attendance. This led to altercation between the supporters and opponents of Pradhan in which at least four persons – Mayadhar Pradhan, Pramod Dehury, Bijay Kumar Sahu and Chaitanya Dehury – sustained injuries.     

Before the situation could get worse, Bantala police reached the spot and brought the situation under control. The gram sabha was later held under the strict vigil of police personnel,

Meanwhile, cases have been filed by these two groups with Bantala police.