Slum dwellers gherao Laxmi Sagar police station in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. Telegraph picture

Bubaneswar, May 29: Slum dwellers today gheraoed Laxmi Sagar police station demanding a plot of land be handed over to them where the government plans to construct a hostel for the children of jail inmates .

The protest comes in the wake of yesterday’s demonstration by the inmates’ children on the disputed plot of land behind the Jharpada jail. The children had called off their protest following an assurance by deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh that the land would be freed from encroachment and made available for the construction of the hostel.

About 30 children, who took part in the protest, have been staying in Madhurmayee ashram, which is being managed from a rented house at Laxmi Sagar. These children were staging protest under the banner of Odisha Patita Udhar Samiti (Opus), an organisation working for underprivileged people in the city.

Opus secretary Abharani Choudhury said that the government had decided to build a hostel for these kids on a half acre behind the Jharpada jail. The responsibility of constructing the hostel has been entrusted with the Odisha State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation. The state government has also sanctioned Rs 1.35 crore for the construction of the hostel.

“But, the opposition from the slum dwellers near the plot has been delaying the construction. We had decided to sit on a dharna on May 20. But, the police officers then assured us of action within five days. As they did not keep their words, these kids staged a protest rally last afternoon and sat on a dharna on the plot of land,” said Niroja Laxmi Mohapatra, superintendent of Mahurmayee ashram.

The Opus members said that the deputy commissioner of police had assured them this morning to take action to free the plot of land from encroachment. He also assured that the construction would start within 40 days.

However, the slum dwellers residing nearby the plot today gheraoed the Laxmi Sagar police station in protest against the dharna staged by the children of the convicts. They alleged that the government had earlier provided them this plot along with 14 acres of land, which has recently been handed over to the traffic training institute.

“All this land belongs to us and we must not be evicted from here,” said Krushna Chandra Dalei, who was leading the protest.