By IANS
Bhubaneswar : Over a dozen people were injured Tuesday in clashes between Hindus and Christians in Orissa’s tribal-populated Phulbani district in the wake of a four-hour shutdown called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to protest an attack on a Hindu leader. Unconfirmed reports said one person had died.
According to reports reaching the state capital, protesters attacked the house of state Steel and Mines Minister Pabmanabh Behra at Firingia in the district, over 200 km from the state capital, and torched a vehicle.
Three churches were ransacked and burnt in the district, local sources told IANS on phone.
Two police vans and two private vehicles were burnt in Tikabali village while hundreds of people blockaded roads at Adabadi to prevent vehicles carrying the Orissa state armed police from reaching the troubled spots.
There are reports that one person was killed in the communal clashes in Barakhama, but police have not confirmed it.
Sporadic clashes were reported from villages under three police stations. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has appealed to the people to maintain peace.
The clashes were reported from villages under Daringbadi, Brahmanigaon and Tikabali police station areas, district police chief Narasimha Bhol told IANS.
A dozen people were injured, said Bhol.
The VHP bandh was to protest an attack Monday by a group of people on the vehicle of local Hindu leader Swami Laxamananda 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, Bhol said.
In retaliation, some people attacked a church, set it on fire and attacked a vehicle at Baliguda town.
The trouble had started Monday morning at the Christian-majority Brahmanigaon village, 150 km from the district headquarters of Phulbani, over celebrating Christmas.
While the Christian community wanted to celebrate the day in a grand way, the local Hindus opposed the plan, Bhol said.
This led to clashes between the Hindu and Christian groups. The attack on Saraswati led to escalation in the violence. Saraswati has his ashram in Tikabali.
Although more than 1,000 policemen were deployed in the sensitive places Tuesday they could not reach many of the trouble spots as bandh supporters had blocked the roads leading to the villages with logs.
Besides the VHP bandh call, the local Kui tribal community had also given a shutdown call demanding immediate solution to their problems.
The clashes took place mostly when bandh supporters attacked shops in various places.
People of both communities have lodged police complaints against each other.
Four people, all Hindus, have been held for inciting communal tension in the region. Besides, at least nine people have been arrested for attacking Saraswati, a police official said.
According to reports, shops were closed and vehicular movement affected in places where the clashes had taken place as the VHP shutdown came into effect.
Phulbani is considered one of the most communally sensitive districts in the state with numerous clashes reported between Hindus and Christians in the past.