Tension prevailed between tribals and a section of Hindus over a patch of land near the Gundicha temple at Chhend Colony here on Saturday.
The tribals of the nearby Bagbudi slums had on Friday locked the temple’s entrance gate and constructed a temporary fence on the open space along with engraving the main points of PESA scheme on the temple wall. The members of temple committee and VSS market committee rushed to the spot and bleached the temple wall and removed the fence with the knowledge of police.
Apprehending any untoward activity, police force has been deployed on the spot since then. But the situation turned tense on Saturday morning when members of both groups assembled on the spot. More police were deployed under the supervision of Panposh Sub-Collector SB Mishra.
Demanding opening of the lock, the people blocked all the entry points to Chhend Colony for more than four hours. When the situation worsened further, the Sub-Collector urged both groups to give more time to resolve the dispute in a fair manner by holding a joint meeting of representatives from both the groups, senior citizens and district administration officers. Now the area is under the vigil of armed police.
In another incident, at Bisra, communal tension still prevailed as the tribals put up their Sarna flag on a land which is claimed to be a Muslim’s. Police forces have also been deployed at the spot.