Bhubaneswar: Tension ran high in Khariar town of Nuapada district as two groups belonging to as many communities clashed with each other at Police Station Chowk in Khariar during the nation-wide strike on Tuesday. Though the impact of the strike called by some groups against caste-based reservation was felt in major tribal-dominated districts of the state, it had no effect in the coastal belt.
Barring the incident at Khariar, the strike passed off peacefully, said a senior police officer.
The incident at Khariar occurred when some strike supporters had gathered at Police Station Chowk and were chased by some others who opposed the strike. The incident turned into a scuffle as both the groups started pelting others with stones. Some protesters from both the sides, including a police officer, were injured in the incident.
Nuapada police superintendent S. Parmar had to rush to the spot to control the situation.
In Balangir, normal life was thrown out of gear due to the dawn-to-dusk strike observed by some organisations demanding scrapping of the quota system in job.
All government and private offices, banks and insurance offices remained closed. School and colleges declared the day a holiday. Commuters faced untold difficulties as vehicular movement was paralysed while business establishments also downed their shutters.
The strike was also total in Sonepur, Kantabanjhi, Titilagarh, Patnagarh and Bhawanipatna.
Vehicular movement came to a standstill in Koraput district as well. Hundreds of trucks and buses were seen stranded along NH-26 that passes through Jeypore town. Medical services, however, were kept out of the strike's purview.
Barring Jeypore, normal life was not affected in other parts of Koraput district. The district headquarters town of Koraput, Sunabeda, Semiliguda, Damanjodi and Kotpad had either no or very little impact of the strike.
In Mayurbhanj, activists observed the strike by staging demonstrations in Baripada, Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. Shops and business establishments were closed and vehicles were off roads.
In Balasore, the courts could not function as lawyers abstained from work. However, no violence was reported from any part of the district.
(With additional reporting by Sudeep Guru in Balangir, Priyadarshini Patnaik in Koraput and Sibdas Kundu in Balasore)
