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At least fifty thousand Congress activists demonstrating against the Orissa government's failure to tackle the drought and power crisis have been arrested, secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee Laxmi Narayan Pal said on Friday.
As per the program scheduled earlier, on Friday morning Congress leaders staged demonstrations in front of the office of the collector in each district, he told rediff.com.
As per the information available with us, at least 50,000 Congressmen have courted arrest till 1300 hours IST, he said. The demonstrations are continuing, he added.
Among prominent leaders who courted arrest were state Congress chief Sarat Patnaik, who was arrested in Cuttack, former chairperson of the National Women's Commission Jayanti Patnaik, former Union minister K C Lenka and state Youth Congress president Ranjib Biswal in Bhubaneswar, Pal said.
Several persons were injured in the district headquarters of Jajpur when police resorted to a lathicharge, used tear gas shells and opened fire at demonstrators, he said.
However, Inspector General of Police (law and order) Harihar Panda denied any such incident. "No untoward incident has been reported from any part of the state till now," he said.
He said the exact number of arrests could only be ascertained only after the numbers are tallied in the evening.
Thousands of activists of Left parties and 14 other organisations were also arrested in the capital Bhubaneswar, a Left party leader said.
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