Malkangiri Situation Is Still In A Stalemate; Political Rivals Plays Appeasement Politics.

Bhubaneswar; December 2025: Amid reports of tension in Odisha’s Malkangiri district following the recovery of a headless body of a woman from the Potteru river, Odisha Law and Water Resources Minister Suresh Pujari on Thursday said the situation in the area is now “completely normal”.

“For a long time, the situation was normal except for this particular incident. Violence in Malkangiri was a day-to-day phenomenon in the past, but the recent clash was very unfortunate. Now there’s total normalcy in that area. The dispute between the tribals and non-tribals, which usually erupted as ethnic violence in the past. We are examining that aspect also“, he told reporters.

Earlier, the Odisha government extended the ban on access to social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook and X, in Malkangiri district for another 18 hours until 12 pm on December 10.

According to officials, clashes erupted soon after the body was found, leading to large-scale damage in the district. The district administration said 163 houses were damaged during the violence. Security forces have been deployed in the affected areas to maintain order.

The state government said Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi approved Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia for the victim’s family. The woman’s son has already received Rs 30,000. The last rites were performed after the post-mortem earlier on Monday. According to a Home Department notification, “anti-social elements” were spreading “false, provocative and inflammatory messages” on WhatsApp, Facebook and X, leading to a threat to public order.

The Malkangiri Collector told reporters that the situation had improved following talks between the two

communities.

Meanwhile BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb, reacting to the violence in Malkangiri following the recovery of a headless woman’s body from the Potteru river, claimed that the situation on the ground is far from normal and blamed both the government and the police for allegedly mishandling the matter.

In his interaction with media reporters, Deb said that, in a sharp contrast to media reports, the situation remains far from normal. “The situation is far from normal. The government goofed up, and the police department goofed up. When the incident happened on the 1st of December, nobody took notice of the situation unless it escalated. By the time it escalated, and after the question was raised in the assembly, the government came into action. The police lost about a week in controlling the situation. The incident might have occurred at one place, MV 26, but its repercussions have far reached, consequently penetrating various other villages and areas where the Bengali and Adivasi populations dwell“.

While discussing the impact of the Malkangiri violence, the BJD leader also demanded compensation for those affected by the riots and called for the provision of shelter for the victims during the winter.

“So, how far the government will control it is a million-dollar question number one. Number two, though they have rushed in the deputy CM, and they have deployed a lot of force, but still,

the larger question is first damage control, second is compensation to those people.

We demand from the people who have suffered in this riot that the government

should compensate them and not only compensate them, but also make sure

the arrangement is in place till at least the winter, so that the population whose

houses and shops have been destroyed, at least they can get shelter during this winter.

But as far as the law and order of the situation is concerned, the government has to take a major call“.

Additionally, the state’s Chief Minister, Mohan Charan Manjhi, approved an ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh to the victim’s family. The woman’s son has already received Rs 30,000.

Team Maverick.