Religious march sparks tension in Sambalpur

SAMBALPUR: Tension erupted over taking out a religious procession to mark HanumanJayanti in Sambalpur town on Sunday. Local MLA JayanarayanMishra allegedly jostled with senior policemen over denial of the procession in a particular area.
Police said when a group of devotees went past the religious place of a minority community in a procession, the latter asked them to maintain silence since it was time for their evening prayer."To prevent the situation from getting worse, we intervened and asked them to proceed peacefully without making any noise," said DSP Jasobanta Senapati.
Participants of the procession reportedly complained to Mishra, who was not present there. Joining the revelers, Mishra allegedly pushed DSP Senapati and had heated arguments with SP Dilip Deo at Zilla School Chhak.
Police, however, denied any manhandling. "The devotees were agitated as we had to scale down their celebration to avoid inconvenience to others," the SP said. Mishra was not available for comment.