Agnipath Row: Protests erupt at several places in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Protests against the Centre’s Agnipath scheme spread to Odisha on Friday as hundreds of aspirants for recruitment in the Armed Forces blocked the arterial Ring Road in Cuttack and tore down hoardings in the Cantonment area of the silver city.
Many of the protestors claimed to have already cleared physical fitness and medical tests for recruitment in the Army last year and were waiting to write the Common Entrance Examination (CEE).
The protests followed the death by suicide of a person who it is said cleared the physical fitness and medical tests during a recruitment drive by the Army and apprehended that it will be cancelled after the announcement of ‘Agnipath’.
Police held lathi charges to disperse the protestors and detained some of them, said Cuttack deputy commissioner of police, Pinak Mishra.
The situation is under control and action will be taken against offenders as per the law, he said.
Hundreds of young men gathered in front of the Army office in the Cantonment area on Friday morning and protested against the Centre’s recruitment scheme for the Armed Forces. They vented their ire by burning tyres on the roads and raising slogans.