Bhubaneswar, March 21: A pitched battle between some protesters and police following a roadblock on National Highway-5 threw traffic out of gear in the city.

Around 5,000 tribal and dalit people carrying weapons such as bows, arrows and axes, had converged on the on the Vani Vihar overbridge, a part of NH-5, to protest against their names being wrongly spelt in caste certificates and land pattas, which had deprived them of benefits attached to these certificates.

During their agitation, the protesters pelted stones on the police and the latter retaliated with lathis.

The scuffle left 70 persons, including 30 policemen, injured. More than 100 protesters were arrested.

Police commissioner B.K. Sharma said the protesters refused to see reason.

“We even arranged a meeting between them and senior bureaucrats to resolve their problems. But they still blocked the road and tried to attack the police with traditional weapons resulting in injuries to around 30 policemen. Then a lathicharge was ordered to disperse the mob,” said Sharma.

The leaders who organised the protest, said their problems have remained unresolved for last three months despite a promise by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

“Police resorted to lathicharge to suppress the movement of the tribals and the dalits. But we are going to continue our protest till we get our rights,” said Bidyadhar Dehury, state president of Dalit and Adivasi Surakhya Manch, which is spearheading the agitation.

A large number of people were affected by the traffic jams that resulted due to the situation on the Vani Vihar overbridge.

Manoj, an engineering student in Calcutta, was one of them. Manoj, who was leaving for Calcutta, had started from his house in Chandrashekharpur around 12.15pm. Normally, it should have taken him about 20 minutes to reach the Bhubaneswar railway station via Vani Vihar Square. But he found himself caught in the traffic jam.

“It took us more than an hour to reach the station,” said Amit, his friend who had accompanied him in an autorickshaw. Manoj just managed to catch the train as it was leaving the station.

“I was supposed to go to Cuttack but the highway was jammed. I had to walk to reach a point from where I could catch an auto. I was delayed by nearly half an hour,” said Biswojit Nath, a local resident.