Odisha Village Sees Clash Over Prayer Meeting, Police Deployed

A clash over a prayer meeting in an Odisha village led to property damage and police intervention, highlighting underlying tensions between local groups.

A clash broke out between two groups in Odisha's Malkangiri district, a senior police officer said on Sunday.

The incident took place at a tribal-populated Palkonda village on Saturday evening over the holding of prayer by a particular group of people in the village, the police officer said.

"The disturbance erupted between the two groups as one majority group asked the other to conduct the prayer in another place on the outskirts of the village, as they had to conduct some puja inside the village. However, the other group objected to it, which led to a heated argument between them," Raj Kishhore Dash, additional superintendent of police (ASP), Malkangiri, told PTI over the phone.

In anger, some people of the majority group removed the asbestos from the roofs of three houses of the other group, he said, adding, "the roofs are being restored by the district administration."

Police Intervention and Investigation

Getting information, a police force, along with senior officers of the district, rushed to the village and restored normalcy in the village, Dash said.

Two platoons of police force (60 personnel) have been deployed in the village, he said.

"We have registered a case against 25 people, including 10 identified individuals, for their alleged involvement in the violence. So far, five of them were arrested while a search is on to nab others," the ASP said.

Peace Efforts

He said that a meeting of the peace committee was held in the village on Sunday in the presence of the representatives of the groups and officers from the district administration.

In the meeting, both groups have agreed to live in peace and harmony with mutual understanding, he stated.