Bhubaneswar: The Malkangiri district administration on Thursday extended the suspension of social media services for another 12 hours till 12 pm on December 12.
Platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook, and X will remain blocked as authorities work to manage the sensitive law-and-order situation.
This is the fourth straight extension since restrictions were first imposed on December 8. The initial 24-hour ban was followed by an 18-hour extension on December 9 and another 24-hour extension on December 10. The latest extension aims to curb the spread of provocative messages and maintain public order.
The ban was enforced after violent clashes erupted between two villages on December 4 following the recovery of a headless body, which heightened tensions in the area.
Malkangiri District Collector Somesh Kumar Upadhyay personally visited the village to assess the situation.
Meanwhile, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has constituted a seven-member fact-finding team, on the instructions of party President Naveen Patnaik, to visit violence-hit areas of Malkangiri and submit a detailed report on the prevailing situation.
The team will be coordinated by Manas Madkami and includes Manohar Randhari, MLA, Ramesh Majhi, ex-Minister, Pradeep Majhi, ex-MP, Rabi Nanda, ex-Minister, Ishwar Panigrahi, and Laxmipriya Nayak, MLA Candidate, Chitrakonda.
The team has been directed to immediately visit the affected villages, interact with victims of both communities, assess the extent of damage and displacement, and submit its findings to the party President