By IANS
Bhubaneswar : Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Thursday visited the riot hit areas of the state’s Kandhamal district amid reports of fresh violence in the region where clashes between sections of Hindus and Christians since Christmas eve have left one person dead and dozens injured.
Fresh incidents of violence have taken place at Brahmanigaon and Barakhama villages, a district police official told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which had staged a flag march in the district headquarters of Phulbani, were expected to march through the other areas as well.
Since people have blocked roads putting wooden logs in many places, police and CRPF troopers were not able to reach all the riot-affected regions, he said. “As a result of that we are not able to gather details.”
Curfew imposed Tuesday would continue in various places till the situation returns to normalcy, district police chief Narasimha Bhol said.
Patnaik, accompanied by state police chief Gopal Nanda, arrived at Phulbani and reviewed the situation with police and other officials.
The chief minister also made an appeal to the people to help bring normalcy to the region and to maintain harmony.
After returning from the affected areas, Patnaik told reporters at Bhubaneswar that the situation was normal in Kandhamal district to a great extent.
“I have directed the police administration to take strong action against the culprits,” he said.
The district of Kandhamal (old Phulbani district) is considered one of the most communally sensitive regions in the state with numerous clashes reported between Hindus and Christians in the past.
The latest trouble started Monday morning in the Christian-majority Brahmanigaon village, 150 km from Phulbani, over Christmas celebrations.
While the Christian community wanted to celebrate the day in a grand way, a section of Hindus opposed the plan. This led to clashes between the Hindu and Christian groups.
The tension escalated when some people attacked the vehicle of local Hindu leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati near Daringbadi when he was on his way to perform a yagna there.
Saraswati and a person accompanying him were injured and their vehicle partially damaged. Hindu radical group Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a four-hour shutdown on Tuesday to protest the attack.
The trouble escalated with people burning dozen of churches, torching private and police vehicles and attacking houses of Christians. At least one person died and dozens were injured in the clashes between Hindu and Christian groups.
The local administration clamped curfew in at least four places on Christmas Eve night.
Despite the curfew, however, at least a dozen churches and a dozen vehicles, including two belonging to the police, were set on fire Wednesday. Besides, the protestors attacked the house of elder brother of state Steel And Mines Minister Padmanav Behera and torched one of his vehicles Tuesday, police sources said.
Thousands of security personnel from the state police and the CRPF have been deployed in the district.