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Sharad Pawar led central team visits riot-hit
Kandhamal, assesses situation Phulbani (Orissa), Nov 18: Nearly three months after communal violence rocked Orissa's Kandhamal, a central team of ministers visited the strife-torn district on Tuesday to assess the situation there. Related Stories Orissa Crime Branch to interrogate nun todayThe team, headed by Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, landed at Raikia, one of the worst affected areas, and visited a relief camp in the town sheltering about 800 victims of the violence triggered by the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23. The team, which also included Union Social Justice Minister Meira Kumar and Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah, spent about an hour at the relief camp and listened to the problems of inmates, sources said. Some of the refugees were believed to have handed over written petitions to the delegation narrating their plight and apprehensions about safety and security if they returned to their villages, they said. Affected people told the team members that they were eager to return home but unable to go as they apprehended fresh attacks, sources said. The union ministers, accompanied by officials, studied the condition at the relief camp and spoke to several local residents, besides visiting the ashram at Jalespeta, where Saraswati and four others were gunned down. The team members, who arrived at Bhubaneshwar yesterday, had held detailed discussion on the Kandhamal situation with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. courtesy |
