Rourkela locals pelt stones at police

Tension ran high in Rourkela on Tuesday when locals pelted stones at police while staging a rally demanding withdrawal of containment zone restrictions.

Residents of the Mahtab Road area staged a road blockade in the morning and later pelted stones at police injuring more than 15 cops. Following this, police fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob.

The locals also staged a rally near the Plant Site police station. Though senior police officials held discussions with them, it yielded no fruitful result. Police forces were deployed at the spot to avoid untoward incidents.

Notably, buffer zone restrictions had been withdrawn from Mangal Bhawan to Janata Niwas and from Madhusudan Marg to Anand Bhawan lane on Monday night. Residents of Mahtab Road and nearby areas now also demand withdrawal of containment zone restrictions from their locality.