Hundreds arrested for protesting against Orissa government

BHUBANESWAR - More than 250 workers and leaders of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were arrested for breaking a police cordon Wednesday during a protest here against the state government’s failure to control farmer suicides and illegal mining, an official said.

Shouting slogans against the Biju Janata Dal government led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the protesters came in a procession from their party office with placards and banners bearing slogans which read ‘Naveen Patnaik down down’.

“We have arrested more than 250 people after they broke a police cordon,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Himanshu Kumar Lal told IANS. The exact number of those arrested would be known later, he said.

Prominent people taken into custody include BJP national vice president Jual Oram, state BJP president Suresh Pujari and several former ministers and legislators of the party, police said.

“The state government has failed in every areas,” BJP leader Jual Oram told IANS. He added that at least one thousand protesters were taken into custody by police and released a few hours later.

“At least 30 farmers have committed suicide due to crop loss and due to government neglect. Similarly the government is silent on the issue of illegal mining,” he said. Oram added that his party wants an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into illegal mining that was rampant in the state.

He also alleged that the law and order situation in the state had deteriorated in the last few years.

A spokesman of the ruling Biju Janata Dal denied the allegations and said no farmer in the state has died due to government neglect. He added that the government was taking all steps against illegal mining.