Rourkela, Sept. 15: Tension mounted at Bisra and adjoining areas this morning after devotees found objectionable materials inside a local temple. Thousands of people came out on the roads, blocking vehicular movement and demanding the arrest of the culprits.

Sources said tension mounted near the Hanuman temple at Bisra after devotees had found the objectionable items inside the temple early in the morning. The news spread fast and a crowd gathered near the temple. The crowd blocked the busy 15-km stretch that connects Bhalulata to Jareikela.

The agitators burnt tyres and put up barricades, thereby bringing all vehicular movement to a standstill. At the time of filing this report, the agitators were continuing with the roadblock.

Tension mounted further when the items were found at the Jagannath temple and at the Sarana worship place of the tribal people. Soon, the tribal people also joined the demonstration demanding the arrest of the culprits.

Police forces were rushed to the spot. "We have deployed five platoons to control any untoward incident," said Rourkela police superintendent Anirudha Singh.

Singh said it was the handiwork of a few people "who wanted to spread tension" as the festive season was drawing near. "We are keeping tabs on the situation and would catch the culprits. To maintain peace in the region, we would organise a peace committee meeting involving members from all the communities," he said.

"We will not let anyone disturb the communal harmony here. But, we want the culprits to be arrested," said an agitator, Santosh Singh. Another protester, Paramu Mundari, said such an incident had happened earlier also.

No arrests have been made so far.