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4 hurt as miscreants open fire; 12 Christian houses burnt in Orissa

At least four people were injured in firing and as many as 12 houses belonging to Christians were set ablaze by some miscreants at Rananai village in Orissa's Gajapati district yesterday.

Making a statement on the floor of the assembly in the wake of a furore over the incident, Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang said tension gripped the village on Sunday when some persons tampered with the 'cross' symbol on a stone in the nearby Khamar hill.

The block development officer and police reached the village on Monday to pacify the people and a peace committee was also constituted comprising members from both the Hindu and Christian communities.

But some anti-socials yesterday set on fire a dozen houses belonging to the Christian community in the village, the chief minister said adding that four persons sustained bullet injuries when miscreants fired at them.

The injured were out of danger, the chief minister told the assembly.

Gamang said one platoon of police force had been despatched to the village and the deputy inspector general of police (southern range), and the district superintendent of police and the district collector have rushed to the spot.

He said that the miscreants had also damaged the vehicle belonging to the block development officer.

UNI

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