Phulbani: Five Youth Congress workers were taken into custody by police here for showing black flags to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during a visit to Kandhamal district on Tuesday.
The youths carrying black flags rushed towards Patnaik's convoy when it was passing through the main market area of this district headquarter town, Inspector in-charge (Phulbani), S K Pujari said.
Police personnel on duty in the area swung into action and prevented the protesters from waving the black flags in front of the chief minister's motorcade and took them into custody as a preventive measure.
Later, Patnaik's programmes in the district passed off peacefully, he said.
During his whirlwind tour of the tribal-dominated district, the chief minister attended a series of functions and asserted his government's commitment towards speedy socio-economic development of the state and uplift of the poor and down trodden in backwad areas like Kandhamal.
The BJD government, he said, has taken various steps for development of agriculture, horticulture, education, communication and training to the rural unemployed youths in various trade and programmes.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 21:47