CUTTACK: Puja-related violence continues in the City despite the culmination of festivities with rival groups engaging in a bloody clash at Balikuda under Sadar Police limits on Sunday morning. At least 11 persons from both sides have been injured and the condition of two is stated to be critical. More than 10 persons have been rounded up by police even as tension runs high in the region on the outskirts of the City. The clash took place between Samalsahi and Nuabazaar localities of Balikuda after two days of simmering tension. Trouble had erupted between youths of the two localities during a melody programme at the Balikuda Durga Puja Mandap on October 7 night. They had come to blows over dancing at the melody. The issue had been resolved and compromise reached on intervention of local ‘sahi’ heads and police. However, on Saturday the youths from Samalsahi came to the Balikuda market and asked the shops and business establishments to keep the units closed until action was taken against their rivals. There was mixed response to the bazaar bandh call. On Sunday, when the market began to open, the two groups came to a confrontation mode which soon flared up into a pitched battle. As the groups engaged in lathi duels, hurling of missiles like stones, brickbats and soda bottles at each other, vehicular traffic on the busy NH-5, along which Balikuda is located, came to a standstill for quite some time. Armed police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. With several persons sustaining injuries, 11 of them have been admitted to SCB Medical, Cuttack. Two of them __ Siddharth Debabrata and Pravanjan Nayak of Samalsahi __ are stated to be in a critical condition. The issue also generated heat with locals alleging that innocent persons have been detained and actual troublemakers left scot-free.
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