Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26: The state's private bus owners have decided to observe a 24-hour strike from 6am onwards on Thursday.

The bus owners are protesting against the arrest of Rushav Tripathy, the owner of the bus which had met an accident at Athamallik in Angul district this month claiming 19 lives. They have demanded the government to withdraw the case against Tripathy, who was arrested on last Friday.

State Private Bus Operators' Association general secretary Debendra Sahu said they had demanded the state government to withdraw the case against Tripathy by October 6.

"If the state government fails to meet out demand, the strike will continue for an indefinite period from October 6," said Sahu.

"The driver of the bus has been arrested. Initially, police had called Tripathy to handover the bus to him. But when he reached the police station, the cops arrested him. If the bus owner is arrested for a road mishap, the rule should also be applicable for the government buses. Will the police arrest the chairman-cum-managing director of state-run Odisha State Road Transport Corporation for road accidents?" asked Sahu.