Orissa Bandh Hits Normal Life

The opposition-sponsored dawn-to-dusk Orissa bandh paralysed normal life in most areas of the state yesterday.

Train services were hit and central government offices reported thin attendance, although most of the offices were closed on account of utkal divas.

Though no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the state, about 500 persons - including several MLAs - belonging to opposition political parties were taken into preventive custody from different places of the state.

Official sources said about 130 bandh supporters were picked up from the state capital, 65 arrests were made from Ganjam district. Arrests from other places included Rourkela (52), Cuttack (35) and Nayagarh (60).

Traffic were off the road and business establishments downed their shutters at most of the places in response to the bandh, called separately by Janata Dal, BJP, the left parties, Samata Party and others to protest against the recent 10 per cent hike in power tariff and alleged failure of the state government to combat the drought situation.

According to railway sources, the movement of long distance trains on the Howrah-Madras main line had been badly affected with all the long distance trains being controlled at different stations. Bandh supporters resorted to picketting at a number of stations, the sources said. Those arrested included Prabhat Tripathy, Ranendra Pratap Swain, Debi Mishra (all JD MLAs), BJP MLA Samir De, SUCI MLA Sambhunath Nayak and former Dal minister Mustafiz Ahmed, sources added.

Other prominent persons taken into custody included Narendra Swain, secretary, state Janata Dal, Nabakishore Mohanty and Tapasi Praharaj (both CPI-M) and Sibananda Ray (Janata Dal).