12 home guards held for blocking road

BHUBANESWAR: The city cops on Thursday arrested 12 home guards for ‘blocking’ the Lower PMG road while protesting non-fulfilment of their seven-point charter of demands, including restructuring their pay scale according to the 7th Pay Commission and as per the Supreme Court’s ruling that the home guards should get remuneration equal to any other regular police personnel.

Several hundreds of home guards under the banner of Rajya Gruharakhi Mahasangha, who were protesting at Lower PMG under Capital police limits, were dispersed by the city cops in the wee hours of Thursday. The police registered a case alleging that the protesting home guards misbehaved with them on January 17. CCTV cameras have been installed and the footage can be scanned to ascertain whether the home guards actually misbehaved with the police. “A case has been registered and 12 home guards arrested. They were produced in a court on Thursday,” a cop posted at Capital police station said.

Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said, the home guards were not given permission to hold the demonstrations 24 hours a day and they were asked to protest peacefully and leave the dharna site.