Normal life was affected in this steel city of Odisha today due to a dawn-to-dusk bandh called by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) protesting an alleged bid to disrupt Lord Jagannath's Bahuda Yatra here.
Shops, business establishments, petrol pumps and educational institutions remained closed during the 12-hour shut-down called by the VHP in wake of protests and road blockade staged by a group during the return car festival on July 14.
Road traffic was also affected as vehicles including city buses remained off the roads during the bandh, supported by BJP. VHP activists blocked roads at different places by burning tyres, the police said.
The bandh remained by and large peaceful and no untoward incident was reported from any part of the city, Superintendent of Police (Rourkela), Anirudh Singh said.
Security personnel in strength were deployed as a precautionary measure in order to prevent any untoward incident, he said.
Over 40 were taken into custody as a preventive measure, the police said.
Meanwhile, prohibitory orders imposed under section 144 of the CrPC from Ambedkar Chak at Uditnagar up to Madhusudan Marg remained in force, they said.
