Groom, family walk 28 km for wedding due to drivers' strike in Odisha
Bhubaneswar, Mar 17: A groom and his family members had to walk 28 kilometres to reach the bride's village in Odisha's Rayagada district for the wedding, as they could not arrange a vehicle due to the drivers' strike.
They walked all night on Thursday from Sunakhandi panchayat under Kalyansinghpur block to reach Dibalapadu village where they tied the knot on Friday.
A video showing the groom and his family members including a few women walking at night went viral on social media.
"No transport was available due to the drivers' strike. We walked all night to reach the village. We had no other option," one of the groom's family members said.
The marriage was solemnised on Friday morning. But the groom and his family members stayed at the bride's house, waiting for the drivers' association to withdraw the strike so that they can return home.
The Driver Ekta Mahasangh has launched the indefinite strike across the state from Wednesday demanding social welfare measures like insurance, pension, formation of a welfare board and others.
The strike by the drivers of commercial vehicles in Odisha was on Friday put on hold for 90 days following an assurance by the state government that all their demands would be fulfilled.
The announcement by the Drivers' Ekta Mahasangh came barely a few hours after Chief Secretary P K Jena and DGP S K Bansak appealed to the striking drivers to withdraw the stir.
The strike by over two lakh drivers has hit the normal life for which people including office goers and tourists remained standard at different places. This has also resulted in price rise of essential commodities.
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Police crack whip against inciteful social media posts
Mangaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): Police have registered a case on their own after discovering a series of alarming and provocative posts on Instagram, allegedly aimed at inciting communal hatred, glorifying violence and threatening revenge attacks in the city.
According to the FIR, filed by Police Sub-inspector Anita Nikkam of the Kankanady Town Police Station, the officer who was monitoring social media platforms on December 2 as per the instructions of senior officials, came across multiple Instagram accounts sharing inflammatory content.
The FIR states that posts and stories on 16 Instagram accounts reportedly carried images of unknown individuals brandishing weapons, including pistols, revolvers, swords and machetes, some with their faces masked.
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Police said the posts were crafted to instil fear, provoke violence, create hostility between communities and disrupt public order in Mangaluru.
The FIR states that the content appeared to be part of a larger attempt to incite hatred between religions and communities, encourage unlawful activities, and disturb peace and communal harmony.
The complaint notes that Mangaluru is a 'sensitive region', and that the posts indicated a coordinated attempt to create fear, trigger riots, conspiracies and criminal acts through social media.
Police have initiated action under relevant sections of law and are tracing the individuals behind the Instagram accounts.
Further investigation is under way.
