Tribals and dalits smash vehicles during their protest in Bhubaneswar on Monday. (PTI)

Bhubaneswar, March 22: The state Assembly today witnessed an uproar over yesterday’s lathicharge on tribal protestors in the city. The Opposition demanded a public apology from the government and immediate release of the agitators, who were arrested.

Yesterday the city witnessed a pitched battle between tribal protestors and police that had left 70 persons injured. More than 100 tribal protestors were arrested.

The police had resorted to lathicharge following a road blockade by the tribal protestors on National Highway (NH)-5 that threw traffic out of gear in the city. Commuters had a tough time as vehicles stopped plying on both sides of the Vani Vihar overbridge where the protestors and the police came face to face.

Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, leader of Opposition, Bhupinder Singh, said, the lathicharge by the police on a peaceful tribal rally proved that the state was out to suppress tribal movements by using brute force.

“While more than a 100 tribal protestors have been lodged in the jail, a two-year-old child was reported missing,” he said.

“The state police has surpassed the British policy in atrocity on peaceful agitators,” said Singh urging the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings and call the leaders of various parties to discuss the issue in his chamber.

The Opposition leader also decried the city police’s failure to control the crowd and vehicular movement, which resulted in traffic chaos, causing inconvenience to residents and commuters.

Describing the Naveen Patnaik government as “anti-tribal”, Congress legislator Prafulla Majhi recalled that several tribals had been killed in police firing at Kalinga Nagar and Maikanch, while they were protesting displacement for industrial projects. Majhi, himself a tribal leader, demanded that the chief minister should tender an apology to the tribals for yesterday’s alleged police excesses.

Senior Congress member, Anup Sai alleged that tribals were being subjected to police repression and were even being killed in fake encounters if they lodged their protest through democratic movements. “Yesterday’s police atrocity in the capital is a burning example,” he said, demanding withdrawal of cases against the tribal agitators and their immediate release from jail.

Rama Chandra Kadam, another tribal legislator from the Congress, said the tribals and dalits were launching agitations after being denied justice. Yesterday, the tribals had staged a rally in the capital, as they were not given land pattas. “Instead of addressing their demands, the police beat them up with lathis,” he said, adding that even women were not spared. The Opposition members demanded action against the police officers for their alleged excesses.