Chhattisgarh village tense after clashes with cops

Raipur, April 14 (IANS) Chhattisgarh’s Bodsara village remained tense Monday after over 60 people were arrested for attacking policemen a day earlier, the police said. An order barring assembly of five or more people at one place was promulgated in the area in Bilaspur district.

“Police presence has been boosted in Bodsara and Section 144 has been imposed to contain violence,” District Superintendent of Police Pradeep Gupta told IANS.

He said that more than 60 people of Bodsara, some 150 km north of here, have been arrested for attacking policemen Saturday night when they tried to prevent the group from forcibly acquiring a private, disputed plot of land.

Dozens of policemen, including Gupta, were injured when a mob from the Satnami community allegedly assaulted them with sharp weapons and sticks. The members of the community wanted to enter the site and install their religious leader’s statue. The owner of the plot has moved court years ago.

The police said the violence had been filmed and the attackers had been identified as well.

More arrests are in the offing, including the Satnami community’s spiritual leader Baldas for inciting the mob, the police said.