Odisha lawyers boycott court proceedings

Court proceedings across the state, including in the Orissa High Court, were paralysed today as lawyers did not attend them in protest against the "failure" of the police to arrest the killers of Puri-based hotelier Chandan Kumar Behera, who also happened to be a lawyer and a member of the Puri Bar Association.
Behera was allegedly hacked to death by unidentified assailants near his hotel Sai Kutir on Sunday evening.
The police took Behera's body and one of his friends, who also received injuries in the incident, to the hospital. Behera's friend is at present undergoing treatment and based on his statement, the assailants have been identified.

However, alleging "police inaction", various lawyers' bodies, including the Orissa High Court Bar Association, had decided to observe a symbolic protest today over the incident.