Demanding house for self, Odisha man keeps school under siege for 5 days
Rourkela (Odisha), Sep 25: Demanding a house and other property for himself from the government, a man in Odisha’s Sundargarh district has kept a school under siege for five days and injured three people with arrows and stones for coming close to him, an officer said.
The authorities needed 60 personnel of the police, fire brigade and district voluntary force, besides a drone camera and an iron mesh to capture him on Wednesday evening.
The tribal man, a resident of Phuljhar village, was arrested and taken to the local police station.
He used his bow and arrow and a slingshot to injure two policemen and the school headmaster, respectively, since Saturday afternoon when he virtually took over the three-storied building.
The school was not functioning from Monday and students were attending classes in a nearby institute.
With a bow and arrows, a slingshot and stones, Dhani Munda has been staying on the terrace of the Badjal Government Primary School under the jurisdiction of Mahulpada police station.
He dropped a piece of paper writing his demands on it when the police through public address system asked him what he wanted to leave the school building.
Munda demanded a residential building with a boundary wall and garden for him, besides property worth Rs 100 crore in the village, the officer said.
During his stay on the terrace, he shouted “This is my house” several times.
Munda had barged into the school on Saturday after an altercation with the headmaster. Following the argument, he hit the headmaster with a stone using his slingshot, drove him out and locked the school building from inside, police said.
When a group of local youths tried to climb the roof, he threatened them.
After the police were informed, inspector in charge of Mahulpada police station, Suresh Chandra Pradhan, reached the spot with his team.
Munda hit Pradhan on a palm with an arrow when he tried to climb the roof using a ladder. He needed hospitalisation. Another police officer was also injured by Munda.
Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Bonai, Swaraj Devta, then reached the spot along with fire brigade personnel.
Rourkela SP Brijesh Ray said a drone camera was used to pinpoint his location on the roof.
Finally, a section of the policemen guarding the school building kept him occupied on one side of the roof, fire brigade and district voluntary force personnel reached there from another side.
They used an iron mesh which can stop arrows and stones to capture the man, police said.
For the past five days, Munda has been having the ration stored for the students.
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Rupee rises 23 paise to 94.95 against US dollar in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated by 23 paise to 94.95 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday as Brent crude prices retreated from their elevated level after US President Donald Trump hinted at a possible deal with Iran.
Forex traders said oil prices fell to USD 108 per barrel, as signs of easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East offset the lingering supply concerns.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 95, then gained some ground and touched an early high of 94.95, registering a gain of 23 paise from its previous low.
The rupee was later trading at 95.10 against the greenback.
On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 95.18 against the US dollar, after witnessing an all-time intraday low of 95.44 on Tuesday on possible RBI intervention after investors retreated from riskier assets amid renewed clashes in the Gulf and targeting of UAE infrastructure, which reignited supply chain fears.
The rupee, which fell to its all-time low of 95.44 on Tuesday, gained this morning as Gift Nifty indicated a positive opening of 200 points, said Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The dollar Index fell to 98.30, and Asian currencies rose against the dollar this morning in Asian trade, after Trump hinted at a possible deal with Iran, Bhansali added.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 98.28, down 0.16 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 1.32 per cent at USD 108.42 per barrel in futures trade, after Trump paused Operation Freedom.
President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday, and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 657.22 points to 77,675.01 in early trade, while the Nifty rallied 218 points to 24,250.85.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 3,621.58 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
