Activists of Koshal Kranti Dal stage a rail roko at Fatak railway station in Sambalpur on Friday. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur/Balangir, Aug. 9: The Koshal Kranti Dal, a regional outfit, today intensified its agitation for a separate Koshal state by staging rail roko agitation across western Odisha.

The organisation wants a separate Koshal state comprising 10 districts of western Odisha besides Athmallick sub-division of Angul district in the central region.

Train services were affected in the region as Koshal Kranti Dal activists resorted to rail roko agitation at Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Jharsuguda and Rourkela.

The agitators gathered at the Fatak railway station in Sambalpur and stopped the Bhubaneswar-Balangir Intercity Express and a goods train.

The Koshal Sena and students of Gangadhar Meher College and other colleges of Sambalur supported the agitation.

The activists also stopped the Utkal Express at the Jharsuguda railway station and Samaleswari Express at Bargarh railway station.

Railway traffic in the Titilagarh section of Sambalpur railway division was partially affected due to the agitation at Balangir railway station this morning. Police arrested at least 40 activists of the Koshal Kranti Dal. Train movement, however, returned to normal after 11am. Later, the agitators were released on personal remand bond.

Over a hundred activists of the Koshal Kranti Dal and other outfits thronged Balangir railway station and stopped the Rayagada bound Sambalpur-Rayagada Tapaswini Express, Raipur-Bilaspur Passenger and the Sambalpur-Nizamabad Nagawali Express at the railway station. The cops arrested 40 of them to resume movement of the trains.

Secretary of Koshal Kranti Dal Dolamani Pradhan said the rail roko agitation had been a success at all the five places — Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh and Balangir.

“The rail roko movement was a success in all the major towns of western Odisha. We have invited 42 like-minded organisations from different districts of the Koshal region for a meeting at Balangir tomorrow to discuss the future course of agitation for a separate Koshal state,” he said.

“We want to send a message to the central government to form a State Reorganisation Commission for consideration of our demand for Koshal. Moreover, we also want the state government to adopt a resolution in the coming monsoon session recommending formation of Koshal to the Centre,” said president of Sambalpur district Koshal Kranti Dal Upendra Mohapatra.

“The people of this region have spontaneously supported the agitation for a separate Koshal state. We will continue our agitation. Our region has been neglected. We will also call for a western Odisha bandh later,” said Mohapatra.