The killing of five of a family in a group clash at Thaapapali village under the Balangir Sadar police station on Sunday came in for sharp criticism from opposition BJP and Congress.
BJP State president KV Singh Deo, who is MlA of Patnagarh in Balangir district, said that inaction of the police was the reason for the incident. He alleged that the law and order situation in Balangir has been deteriorating as the police are doing “other business rather than performing their job in the district”.
There is no law and order in Balangir, criminals venture to commit crimes in daylight and the recent looting of a bank was a good example of this, he said. Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra, who belongs to Balangir, alleged that Sunday’s incident happened due to the fact that the local revenue administration and the police in particular did not take any initiative to solve the long-drawn dispute between two groups over the possession of a piece of Gochar land. Though the police knew the rivalry, no action was taken to prevent the incident, he said.