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Orissa reels under
church violence after shocks
BHUBANESWAR: The riot-hit Kandhamal is limping back to normal. Six
days after anti-Christian violence flared up in the tribal-dominated
district of Orissa, the police managed to reach the interior pockets
by clearing all the major roads on Saturday. In Bhubaneswar, chief
minister Naveen Patnaik said, "The situation is under control in
Kandhamal. More forces are on their way to the district."
Senior bureaucrat Suresh Mohapatra, who is camping in Kandhamal
said, "Though no major incident was reported, curfew would remain in
Phulbani, Baliguda, Daringbadi and Brahmanigaon during the night as
a preventive measure. All major roads are now open to vehicular
traffic."
As a "preventive measure" the state government did not allow a
seven-party opposition delegation to visit the trouble-torn
district. "The Boudh collector and SP stopped us on the way and said
it would not be possible for them to allow us to proceed. The chief
minister is saying the situation is normal, but by preventing our
visit it has been proved that things are not normal," CPM leader
Janardhan Pati said.
The death toll since radical Hindus began attacking Christians on
December 24 in the district went up to three with the recovery of a
decomposed body at Barakhamba area.
2 January 2008
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