Tension prevailed here at the BMC Bhawani Mall as the activists of the Kalinga Sena and the Bajrang Dal ransacked the multistoried mall, housing Inox cinema hall at Saheednagar, protesting against the celebration of Valentine’s Day on Saturday.
Holding placards in hand and raising anti-Valentine’s Day slogans, the activists of the outfits assembled near the mall and then suddenly barged into it jumping over the iron boundary wall forcing police personnel to resort to mild cane-charge. Police also resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the volunteers who organised a bike rally near the mall.
Police detained four people after they vandalised mall. Taking the issue seriously, city DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said, “We are examining the video footages and will take action against the violators after ascertaining their involvement.”
The activists also raided other malls, parks and cinema halls to prevent couples from celebrating the Valentine’s Day.The Bajarang Dal activists also staged a demonstration in front of the Keshari cinema hall to stop young girls and boys from visiting the theatre.
While almost all the major parks like Jayadev Batika and Ekamra Park, were closed, young couples preferred not to visit the Indiara Gandhi and Biju Patnaik Parks despite the deployment of adequate police forces.
Police personnel were also deployed at several places in Cuttack, Sambalpur and Rourkela to prevent untoward incidents.Around 10 platoons of police were deployed at parks, malls and cafeterias in the twin cities on the Valentine’s Day, sources said.
However, as per its earlier announcement, the Kalinga Sena activists led by its supremo Hemant Rath and the Mahila Morcha president carried out their drive against vulgar and obscene activities by raiding one park after another.
A’garh students worship teachers
Athagarh: As against the culture of hugging and kissing on the Valentine’s Day, students of the Jawahar Navoday Vidyalaya at Mundali celebrated the day as Matru-Pitru Pujan Diwas.
Since it is a residential school, the teachers represented as the parents of the students. The function started with the prayer class in the morning where the students worshipped their teachers following aarti and bhogalagi. They chanted Ganesh vandana, Guru vandana and Vedic rhymes. The teachers in turn blessed their students. The function was coordinated by Yoga Vedanta Sewa Samiti, Cuttack.