A band of about 3,000 agitators under the banner of Bahanaga Sangram Samity gheraoed a Zila Parishad meeting venue for more than four hours on Saturday demanding an instant reply from the district Collector on establishment of tehsil office at Bahanaga.
The tehsil office of Bahanaga block was opened on August 18 last at Paikasta near Gopalpur. The site choice had left the locals of Bahanaga disgruntled. The residents of Bahanaga and Gopalpur were at loggerheads for about four years with each side demanding the tehsil office at their places. The deadlock had continued since 2011.
The agitators laid siege to the Collectorate where the meeting was underway in presence of all Zila Parishad members, local MP and MlAs of the district. The MlAs of Remuna, Soro and Simulia, however, had not attended.
The agitators also had an altercation with the local media personnel and even had a minor scuffle with them after the former alleged that the media, by and large, was biased over the issue. They too gheraoed the district press room where the scribes were holed up for about an hour. The agitators with banners and placard created uproar in the premises of the Kutchery. The police were hardly prepared to deal with the situation. Some of the agitators were seen armed with lethal weapons as well. The police, however, managed to rescue the Collector and other dignitaries after about four hours.
Samity convenor Kalindi Nayak said, “We will fight tooth and nail till out demand is fulfilled. In the coming days, the agitation will be stepped up. We would block the NH and resort to self- immolation.” He added that the tehsil office should have been established at Bahanaga but it was set up at Gopalpur by means of a conspiracy.