Cong activists, students clash with cops

Tension prevailed at Raj Mahal Square here on Monday following members of Students Congress along with DMLT and DMRT students clashed with police personnel during a demonstration.

Pressing for fulfilment of a five-point charter of demands including jobs and withdrawal of privatisation in Government hospitals, over a hundred activists took out a protest rally from Master Canteen and marched towards the Naveen Niwas.

But at Raj Mahal Square, they were intercepted by police personnel which led to a scuffle. The demonstrators threw the road barricades, hurled plastic chairs at the police personnel and damaged a police vehicle. They also burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the demonstration.

Later, police detained over 40 activists from the spot. Three of the demonstrators were injured during the scuffle.

Students Congress president Itish Pradhan said, “We had earlier informed to gherao the Naveen Niwas to press for our demands.”

“We would intensify our agitation in coming days if the demands are not fulfilled within seven days.”