Jeypore tense, Kandhamal returns to normalcy

Bhubaneswar,Sep 2 (UNI) Situation continued to be tense in the trouble-torn Koraput while normalcy returned to the riot-hit Kandhamal.

Police said two churches were damaged at Kudura about 15 km from Jeypore in Koraput district today.

Though the situation was tense, the authorities relaxed the curfew in Jeypore town for seven hours in two phases to help the people to buythings for their basic requirements.

Curfew was clamped in Jeypore town on August 30 after a mob went on rampage attacking police station and damaging places of worship and vehicles.

Police said the trouble started after the students belonging to two communities fought over the display of a graffiti in the local Vikarma Dev College.

In Kandhamal, the situation was reported to be normal with no reports of any untoward incident. School and colleges opened and government offices were functioning normally.

However, the night curfew was in force in some sensitive areas as a preventive measure, the police said.

Union Home Ministr Shivraj Patil is arriving here tomorrow to assess the situation in Kandhamal and other places of the state which witnessed group clashes and arson at the places of worship in the aftermath of the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananada Saraswati on August 23.

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