Group clash in Odisha’s Malkangiri: Internet services suspended, prohibitory order imposed

The administration on Monday suspended Internet services in Odisha’s Malkangiri district and clamped prohibitory orders in two villages following a clash between two groups over the killing of a tribal woman whose headless body was recovered from a river, police said.

Both sides wrote to the district administration demanding the arrest of the killer, while the police said security has been tightened in the area and the situation is now under control.

The opposition raised the issue in the Assembly, accusing the BJP government of failing to prevent the clash on Sunday, though tension prevailed in the area following the recovery of the torso of 51-year-old Lake Padiami, a widow, from a riverbank near Rakhelguda village on December 4.

The clash took place on Sunday afternoon when tribals of Rakhalguda village allegedly attacked MV-26 village, a Bengali settler’s area, under the Korkunda Sadar police station area. At least a dozen houses were damaged, some vehicles destroyed, and at least four houses set on fire by the mob, police said.

Prohibitory order has been clamped in two villages, while internet services have been suspended in the entire Malkangiri from 6 pm of Monday for 24 hours, officials said.

Thousands of people led by Gouranga Karmakar, the president of Malkangiri Bengali Samaj, demonstrated outside the district collector’s office demanding action against those who attacked MV-26 village.

“We demand a high-level enquiry into the murder case at Rakhalguda, and arrest and punishment of the culprit as soon as possible,” Bengali Samaj said and sought action against those who attacked MV-26 village.

Most of the residents of MV-26 village have fled during the attack, the organisation said in a petition to the administration.

In a separate petition, the District Adivasi Samaj Mahasangh alleged that a large number of infiltrators had entered the district between 1978 and 1980. They encroached upon government land and exploited local tribals.

It demanded that the police immediately arrest the murder accused and recover the missing head of the woman.

The tribals under the banner of District Adivasi Samaj Mahasangh, Malkangiri, in a petition demanded action against illegal infiltrators and those who killed the woman.

According to official data, the government of India in 1964 had settled migrated Bengali families in 215 villages in Malkangiri district and 65 villages in Umerkote and Raighar in Nabarangpur district. The Bengalis came from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Additional Superintendent of Police Raj Kishore Das said that the situation was under control after the deployment of additional forces of the Odisha Police and BSF. The personnel of Odisha Fire Service were also deployed along with Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force.

DIG (south western) Kanwar Vishal Singh, Malkangiri Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay and SP Vinodh Patil H have visited the affected areas and held a peace committee meeting involving both groups.

DGP YB Khurania reached Malkangiri along with senior police officers to review the situation.

A huge police force has been deployed in the area, an officer said.

Police said that two persons have been detained in connection with the attack on MV-26 village.

The district administration also ordered closure of all liquor shops across Malkangiri till mid night of Tuesday, an officials said.

Meanwhile, the issue was raised during the Zero Hour in the ongoing winter session of the Assembly, where both BJD and Congress members blamed the state’s BJP government for failing to prevent the clash, the tension over which had been prevalent for some days.

BJD member PK Deb alleged that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi misled the House two days ago by claiming that the law and order situation was fine across the state.

“If law and order is all right, what is happening in Malkangiri? The tribals are angry over the killing of a woman of their community. This incident may encourage Maoists, who have a presence in Malkangiri. The state government’s inaction may indirectly help left-wing extremism,” Deb alleged.

Congress MLA Mangu Khilla said that it was being alleged that the woman had been raped before being beheaded.

“The woman went missing on December 1, and the family lodged a missing person report on December 3. Her body was found on December 4 on a riverbank. What were the police doing all along? The police know that there was a land dispute. Still, the police did not act,” claimed Khilla, who is the local MLA.

Alleging that even elderly women are not safe in Malkangiri, he cited some other cases of rapes of young women in the district.

BJP MLA Ashok Mohanty told reporters that the government is alert and adequate deployment has been made in the affected area.