Bhubaneswar, Nov. 24: They did everything from polishing shoes to holding begging bowls to make their demands heard. But agitating teachers of unaided secondary schools had to face some real trouble last night after they were baton-charged for forcibly trying to enter Naveen Nivas, the chief minister’s residence.

Hundreds of teachers had been agitating near the Assembly, which is in session, taking out long rallies, since yesterday morning. They marched towards Naveen Nivas around 8pm and refused to turn back.

After the police started the lathicharge, about 30 teachers were arrested.

“We were protesting silently, but the police resorted to lathicharge and used water cannons to terrorise us,” rued Dilip Pradhan, a teacher from Bhadrak.

At least 36 MLAs, including leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, demanded a statement from the government.