The 12-hour dawn-to-dusk State-wide hartal call given by the BJP and the Odisha bandh call by the Congress on Wednesday went off peacefully in Cuttack district without any untoward incident. Normal life in Cuttack city was completely paralysed as shops and other business establishments downed their shutters and vehicles stayed off the roads.
Terming the suicide of the Kunduli rape victim as a “State-sponsored murder”, the opposition parties had given the call to protest it and demand resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
BJP workers under the leadership of city president Laxmidhar Pradhan picketed at CDA, Buxi Bazaar, Jobra, Mahanadi Vihar, Naya Sarak, Seminary Square, Badambadi and OMP Square of the city. Similarly, Congress workers under the leadership of district chief Prakash Behera and city chief Md Moqim picketed at Madhupatna, in front of the Collector’s office, the city railway station and at the State police headquarters here.
According to police sources, more than 200 protestors, including prominent leaders of both opposition parties, were taken into custody from different places under preventive measures and were released later in the evening.