Locals, Police Clash in Rourkela Over Opening of Containment Zone
Around 6 am, a mob of over 2,000 people broke barricades and pelted stones on police.
A violent clash broke out between locals and police in Odisha’s Rourkela on the intervening night of Tuesday, 26 May over opening of an area categorised as a containment zone.
The clash reportedly broke out after the police barricading was removed from an area when it was de-contained but some areas near it, continued to be containment zones.
According to The Indian Express, the Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) on Monday night withdrew restrictions from the area, squeezing the size of the containment zone to half.
The protesters reportedly hit the streets at about 2 am but were pacified by the police.
The police resorted to baton-charge and threw tear gas shells to control the situation.
DIG (Western Range) Kavita Jalan later reached and managed to pacify the mob after assurance of addressing their grievances.
Sundargarh Collector Nikhil Pawan Kalyan held talks with the senior administrative and police officers to bring the situation under control. "Appropriate action as per law will be taken after assessing the situation," he told IE.
(With inputs from ANI and The Indian Express.)
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