People flee, eerie silence at village

KENDRAPARA: Four days after the police action on unarmed anti-liquor campaigners, Namatara village in Kendrapada district continues to wear a deserted look.
A visit to the riverside village on Wednesday revealed panic was palpable. Many houses locked with family members fleeing, fearing arrest, some have just the elders left behind while the entry to the village is guarded by posse of policemen.
"The police were brutal on people, including women and children. There was not much provocation, yet they fired on the anti-liquor protestors indiscriminately. At least seven people, including two teenage girls and three women, sustained bullet injuries," alleged Aul MLA Debendra Sharma. He said the injured had been undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.
The police denied the charge. "We fired in the air to disperse the mob. No one was injured," said Pattamundai sub-divisional police officer Kedarnath Sahoo. He said seven policemen were injured in attack by protestors. The SDPO said six persons had been arrested in connection with the clash that started when a group of villagers, mostly women, ransacked a foreign liquor shop.
On Tuesday night police came to our house, hit the door and dragged out my son. When I protested, one policeman kicked me," alleged Mandar Mallick, 65, a woman resident of Namatara. "The government has no right to allow liquor shop in an area without approval of gram sabha. We will continue our stir," said Hiramani Rout of All India Mahila Sanskrutika Sangha, an anti-liquor outfit.