Tension in Orissa town after policeman beaten up

BHUBANESWAR - Prohibitory orders have been clamped in Orissa’s Paradip port town after a policeman was beaten up and his motorbike was set afire Saturday by a mob protesting the death of a man who was allegedly hit by a police vehicle, police said.

The angry mob went out of control near Atharbanki chawk of Paradip following the death of school teacher named Satyapriya Pradhan of local Vivekananda Sikshyashram,

“My brother was killed after being hit by a police van,” his brother Srinibas Pradhan said,

The protesters assaulted local policemen who had gone to the spot to pacify the aggrieved people. An assistant sub inspector was badly injured by the mob.

Additional policemen were called to the spot to control the angry mob, which was pelting stones at policemen. Later police conducted a baton charge to disperse the crowd.

“We have deployed additional forces on the spot. We have also clamped Section 144 (of the Criminal Procedure Code) in this area,” senior police official Balakrishna Sahu said.