The Ganjam district administration on Wednesday demolished the Hanuman temple near the Gautam Cinema Hall here despite stiff opposition from the local BJP and Bajrang Dal activists.
The BJP and Bajrang activists were holding a dharna at the spot in protest against the administration’s move to demolish the temple for road widening. The district administration clamped Section 144 of the CrPC and started the demolition drive from dawn with heavy police protection. Nobody including journalists was allowed to enter the area.
Police detained more than 20 protestors and later released them. In the demolition drive Sub-Collector Siddharth Swain Brahamapur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) Commissioner Chakravarty Singh Rathod and other officials were present.