Protest at Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar turns violent, several policemen injured

Balodabazar (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 10 : Several policemen were injured after protest at the Collector's office in Chhattisgarh's Balodabazar over alleged damage to a religious place of the Satnami Community turned violent, police said.
Stone pelting and arson were reported during the violence; government offices were vandalised and vehicles were torched, police said.
On violence in Balodabazar, SSP Sadanand Kumar said, "...They had all given assurance - in writing too - that they would hold a peaceful program. But it got uncontrolled...Adequate Police arrangements had been made...Barricades had been put up at four spots but the men came through another route and broke down the barricades.
"They jostled Policemen and pelted stones...Several of our Policemen got injured. Our officers too got injured...They also entered Collectorate premises while pelting stone, they set the vehicles here on fire. They also vandalised the premises. Fire was brought under control. Incidents of violence were reported in the city too. Those too were brought under control. Situation is under control now...Strict action will be taken...We have photos and videos...we will take action on that basis," he added.
Visuals from the spot showed a large crowd trying to breach police barricades defying water cannons.

As a preventive measure, security personnel have been deployed at the Collector's office to deal with the situation. Moreover, a fire tender has also been stationed near the Collectorate to avert any untoward incident.
The mob torched a large number of vehicles and also damaged firefighting vehicles, police said adding that some vehicles parked close to the Collector office were also damaged.