Night curfew continues in Bhadrak, 146 arrested for violence

Night curfew continued in Bhadrak today despite the town returning to normal, while the number of arrests rose to 146 in connection with the violence sparked by alleged abusive remarks against Hindu deities on social media.
"Normalcy has returned to violence-hit Bhadrak town, but curfew, which was relaxed for 12 hours today, will remain in force during the night," Bhadrak Superintendent of Police Anup Sahu said.
Curfew was relaxed from 6 am till 6 pm following considerable improvement in the situation and was reclamped from 6 pm today till 6 am tomorrow, he said.
As many as 146 people have so far been arrested during crackdowns by police in connection with the April 6 and April 7 violence, he said, adding raids were on to nab the miscreants.

Sahu said he would hold discussions with the leaders of both the communities involved in the clash as part of efforts to ensure harmony and amity in the town.
Meanwhile, the process to assess the damage caused in Bhadrak was carried out on a priority basis and a detailed report wold be prepared for submission to the government at the earliest, Bhadrak Collector Gyanaranjan Das said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, during his visit to the town on April 12, had directed the officials to make a detailed assessment of the damage for providing financial assistance to the affected for livelihood restoration.

Violence broke out in the town on April 6 after a group staged a demonstration near the Town police station demanding arrest of those involved in posting alleged offensive remarks against Hindu deities on social media.
Though the administration clamped prohibitory orders, tension persisted and fresh violence was reported on April 7, despite a peace meeting. Escalation in tension prompted the administration to impose curfew on April 7.