Communal violence leaves 1 dead, 24-hour internet shutdown in Odisha’s Bhadrak district

A day after the eruption of communal tension in Odisha’s Bhadrak district, the state government has withdrawn internet services for 24 hours after a group clash between two communities left one dead on Wednesday, a senior police official said today.

To avert a possible breach of peace, the district administration has enforced a prohibitory order under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in some of the sensitive pockets. A total 12 suspected miscreants have so far been arrested in this connection, said an official.

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First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against several others on charges of triggering lawlessness and violence. They will be arrested shortly.

Internet services have been withdrawn from 6 am today till 6 am Friday in Bhadrak block and its municipality, Tihidi block, Dhamnagar block, and the adjoining Notified Area Council (NAC) regions as a precautionary measure to stop spread misinformation and rumour.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the widow of the deceased.

The clash between two communities was reported in the Tihidi area recently. One of the injured persons in the clash succumbed to injuries yesterday at a hospital. The death of the injured person led to further escalation of tension in the communally sensitive areas, added the police officer.

The coastal Bhadrak district witnessed communal violence on 27 September last year, with a controversial social media post triggering a breach of law and order situation.

Messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and other such media have the potential to inflame communal tension, thereby leading to acts causing disturbance of public order in Bhadrak district.

”Therefore, to prevent the spread of such inflammatory and motivated messages in the above mentioned media and getting the public order disturbed in whole Bhadrak district and to restore peace and amity, prohibition of the use and access of social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, X and any other apps through internet and other medium of data services has been enforced,” added a senior police official.