Alleging that recent riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district were engineered by a deep-rooted opposition Congress on Monday demanded an impartial CBI probe.
BHUBANESWAR: Alleging that recent riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district were engineered by a deep-rooted opposition Congress on Monday demanded an impartial CBI probe into it and action against errant officials.
''The communal violence was the result of a deep-rooted conspiracy. It could have been averted if the administration had taken timely preventive steps,'' senior party leader Hemanand Biswal, who led a fact finding team to the riot affected areas, told here.
Claiming that trouble erupted due to destruction activities by saffron activists at Brahmanigaon, the former Orissa Chief Minister alleged that houses were torched in the presence of police personnel.
Though the state government had ordered a judicial inquiry into the incidents it would be appropriate if the probe was handed over to CBI to ensure an impartial and independent investigation, he said adding former district collector and superintendent of police should be suspended for their role during the riots.
Rejecting the state government's claim about restoration of normalcy in the tribal-dominated district, he said the situtatiton in Kandhamal was still tense and the process of normalisation was very slow.
Describing as inadequate the relief provided to the riot victims, he alleged that quality of relief materials was also very poor and said the fact finding team had drawn the attention of the administration to it.
Accusing the administration of arresting innocent people in connection with the riots, Biswal and senior party leader Srikant Jena alleged that those responsible for the violence remained scot-free.
Maintaining that members of both communities were affected due to the violence, they said action should be taken against all those who were involved in the riots.
Though the tribal Kui Samaj had given a bandh call on December 25 and 26 well in advance, the administration had failed to make appropriate security arrangements, allowing the communal forces to take full advantage of the situation, they claimed.
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