Bhubaneswar, July 17 (IANS) Normal life was badly affected on Thursday due to the statewide shutdown call by eight political parties led by Congress demanding justice for the female student of the Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, who died on Monday following self-immolation over alleged sexual harassment by one of the faculty members of the college.

The Odisha Bandh disrupted the transportation services across the state as the protestors staged a blockade of national and state highways at several places in Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur, Balasore, Berhampur, etc. during the strike.

Hundreds of vehicles were seen standing on both sides of the roads with stranded passengers awaiting the protest to end. Business establishments, petrol pumps and educational institutions were also closed in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Balasore, etc., owing to the dawn-to-dusk ‘Odisha Bandh’.

The government offices in the state also recorded lower attendance on Thursday due to the protest.

Senior leaders of the party, including Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Bhakta Charan Das, AICC in-charge Ajay Lallu, along with party workers, engaged in picketing in Bhubaneswar and other major cities of the state.

The train services were severely affected at many places as well, causing discontent among the stranded passengers. The members of Congress, left parties, along with workers and several other organisations, blocked railway tracks at several places across the state.

The tourists trapped in buses and trains during the shutdown expressed strong displeasure over the inconvenience caused by the protestors.

During the Odisha Bandh demonstrations in Bhubaneswar, a scuffle broke out between Congress members and leaders and police personnel at Lower PMG.

The scuffle ensued when police stopped the protesting Congress workers who were trying to gherao the Chief Minister’s residence.

Many Congress activists and leaders were picked up by police and detained to bring the situation under control. Though the statewide shutdown passed without any major violent incidents, some areas reported verbal altercations and even physical scuffles between protesters and commuters on Thursday.

“Today, the Congress party and other parties, including the Left parties, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, are observing Odisha Bandh seeking justice for women in the state,” OPCC president Das had said earlier.

–IANS

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