Bhawanipatna cops bar CPI, CPM from staging dharna

The Pioneer, March 29, 2010
PNS, Bhawanipatna

Protesting against the detention of party leaders and supporters at Junagarh, who were to stage a dharna in front of the SP office here on Saturday, agitated members of the CPI and CPI(M) took to the streets here alleging restrain of democratic movement by the police and rushed to the SP office shouting slogans against the police when the Town police arrested all the 16 communist leaders en route to the SP office at Ghodaghat Chowk on Saturday.

The police had detained CPI leaders Damodar Behera and Biswaranjan Naik and others at Junagarh, while they were on way to join the protest meeting at Bhawanipatna on Saturday.

Talking to The Pioneer, IIC Haresh Chandra Pandey said, "They had earlier sought to stage a dharna outside the SP office, but the plea was rejected as the protest meet would have created annoyance. But we were to grant them permission to hold meeting in front of the Collectorate or the Town PS, as usually all the meetings are held, and the leaders had been conveyed accordingly."

However, the members defied police instructions and forcibly marched to stage a dharna in front of the SP office, following which the police arrested all the leaders and members, including CPI (M) district secretary Naba Kishore Pattnaik, AISF State vice-president Sudipta Behera, CPI secretary Purna Pradhan, Sudhanshu Nanda, Ananta Nayak, Biswajit Behera and others. Afterwards they were released on PR bond (Personal Recognizance bond).

Demanding withdrawal of police cases against the five women of Chhatarpur village and alleging forged cases pending against other Dalits and tribals allegedly instigated by Lanjigarh-based Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), both the CPI and the CPI(M) had earlier decided to sit on a dharna in front of the SP office on Saturday and submit a memorandum containing three-point charter of demands.

The demands include veracity of police cases against the innocent people during a public hearing at Lanjigarh, a review of police cases against locals before and after the establishment of Vedanta, and withdrawal of cases lodged during public agitations related to the establishment of VAL.

It was earlier reported that the Lanjigarh police had arrested five women in February under Section 394 and produced them before a court. After spending about 20 days in jail, the court granted them bail, recently.