Sambalpur: BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal called a 12 hour dawn-to-dusk bandh in Sambalpur in Protesting against the arrest of former BJP MLA Jayanarayan Mishra. The bandh came into force at 6 am on Thursday morning. All school, colleges and other educational institutions, trading establishments, courts and government offices were remained closed during the bandh. While vehicular movement came to a grinding halt, the agitators staged ‘rail roko’ at the Khetrajpur railway station.
Notably, Mishra was arrested on Wednesday for violating Section 144 during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in Sambalpur city. The district administration had issued orders not to display sharp weapons during celebration of Hanuman Jayanti. Two separate FIRs were registered against Mishra at Dhanupalli and Town police stations for allegedly wielding a sword during the procession.
Sub-divisional judicial magistrate’s court remanded Mishra to judicial custody after his bail plea was rejected. Mishra, however, claimed that he had not done anything wrong and his arrest was part of a political conspiracy.