Bhubaneswar:
A day after a woman cop was beaten by a rampaging mob of protesting Congress workers in Bhubaneswar, the party's in-charge of the state, Jagdish Tytler, has issued an apology.
"We are sorry that the woman cop got injured," Mr Tytler said as he apologised, but quickly added that "there are two sides of the story. Our people have also been injured. The cops attacked us first. "
At least 35 people, including those who attacked the policewoman, have been arrested for the clashes that took place outside the state Assembly yesterday, Bhubaneswar Police Commissioner Sunil Roy said, adding that more arrests will follow.
On Thursday, a crowd of more than 25,000 Congress workers tried to storm the Assembly to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Navin Patnaik for what they allege is his involvement in the coal block allocation scam that has rocked Parliament as well. Mr Tytler was leading these protesters.
Police had put prohibitory orders in the area, which the Congress workers defied. As they broke through one of the barricades, the cops used tear gas to control the situation. Several protestors as well as 60 policemen were injured in the clashes that followed.
Among the injured is a 39-year-old policewoman, Pramila Padhi, who is from the Bhubaneswar City Police. Pramila was on duty near the Congress Bhavan when the clashes began yesterday. She was a deployed to guard a woman Congress leader, and not to control the crowd.
Pictures captured by local TV channels show protestors thrashing her with bamboo sticks while she was lying on the ground trying to protect herself.
Eyewitnesses said she fell on to the ground after 15-20 people surrounded her during the clashes and then one of the men kicked her.
"I was trying to persuade people to stay calm when some people caught hold of me, dragged me along and even molested me. They kicked and beat me up brutally," she said today.
Pramila is currently recovering at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar, battling shock and trauma.
The repercussions of the protest were felt in state Assembly today, where members of the ruling Biju Janata Dal held up placards condemning the violence by Congress workers; the Congress in return made allegations of corruption against Mr Patnaik's government. Following the chaos and noisy disruptions, the House was adjourned for the day.
Outside the Assembly, the Chief Minister condemned the act of violence, "Am deeply shocked to know of yesterday's violence. Odisha is a peace-loving state and people are against violence," he said.
After the clashes yesterday, Mr Patnaik had rejected Congress' allegations against him. "Various Congress leaders are continuing with their old habit of making false allegations against the state government," he had said.
Though the police had prepared for the protest by calling in for reinforcements in advance, the state's director general of police Prakash Mishra has said that his force was not ready for the "organised hooliganism" that broke out yesterday. DGP Mishra said the crowd had come armed with sticks and stones and that his officers handled the situation with as little force as possible.
Pinaki Mishra, an MP of the ruling BJD, has alleged that the crowd had been fuelled with alcohol and called them "mid-level lumpen elements", suggesting that they had come prepared to turn violent.
Congress MP Pradeep Manjhi though claimed that his people were protesting peacefully and were attacked by the police.
The Congress has called for another bandh on September 10 and demanded a judicial probe into "police excesses".