Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Jan 11:

Commissionerate Police and Odisha Special Armed Police (OSAP) personnel staged a flag march in Ward number-15 of Rental Colony on Saturday following mounting post-election in the area.

Around five platoons of police force and eight IIC rank officers from different police stations participated in the march which was conducted under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Nitinjeet Singh.

Police stage flag march in Rental Colony Police stage flag march in Rental Colony

The flag march was staged to warn mischief mongers, who have been on rampage since the results of the BMC polls were announced on Thursday and to inspire confidence in the citizenry, sources in the Commissionerate police said.

Hundreds of vehicles and commuters were stranded for nearly 30 minutes as traffic along the National Highway no. 5 was paralyzed at the busy CRP Square in the city following a road blockade by angry supporters of the Independent candidate from Ward No 15.

The protesters said on after a clash between two groups owing allegiance to two rival parties, one led by the winning independent candidate and the losing BJD candidate, on Thursday, Twin City Commissioner R P Sharma had promised to arrest the local BJD leaders and their supporters who attacked the winning candidate’s family and house.

But even 48-hours after the promise, the police have not arrested a single person, they said. The defeated candidate and his supporters are moving around freely in the ward threatening supporters of the winning candidate of dire consequence, said a protestor.

Normalcy returned after the two platoons of police force were deployed to disperse the protesters from the traffic square. During the protest, police arrested 15 agitators, including two women.

“Our people waited for two days. But since the police failed to act against the culprits, we blocked the NH-5 today to demand their immediate arrest,” said Samir Pradhan, the winning candidate of the Ward.

Pradhan said a complaint had been filed against Ashok Raj. the losing BJD candidate and 19 of his supporters on Thursday, but the police have nothing about it.

Inspector-in-charge of Nayapalli police station Abani Mohanty said the investigation was o. “We have launched a manhunt to nab the culprits, who are still at large,” he said.