Click to play videoBhubaneswar/New Delhi: Mobs attacked five villages and set fire to 25 houses in Kantamala, a place near Orissa’s Kandhamal district where Hindus and Christians have clashed repeatedly since August 23.
CNN-IBN Correspondent Jajati Karat reports 500 villagers in Kantamala fled to jungles after being attacked by mobs early Thursday morning. At least 33 people have died in Orissa, mostly in Kandhamal district, in communal violence that started after the murder of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader and four of his aides on August 23.
Curfew was relaxed in all nine areas of Kandhamal on Thursday and 53 companies of paramilitary forces were deployed but the district remains tense. PTI reports 48 people have been arrested since Tuesday, taking the total number to 337.
Curfew was imposed in the district on Wednesday following arson and the death of a woman in communal clashes. IANS reports a mob set fire to several houses in Behera Gaon village in the district on Tuesday night and earlier in the day, a mob set fire to Christian homes and a church in Rudangia village.
The CPI-M on Thursday accused the Central government of not doing enough to contain the violence in Orissa. "It is shocking that after more than a month, there is no control over violence. The culprits are going scott-free," said party General Secretary Prakash Karat in Delhi.
"The Central Government has also failed. They only send advisories. No directives have been issued," he said.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
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