No let up in violence at Posco steel plant

Jagatsinghpur: Posco steel plant at Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa was destined to be one of the country's biggest foreign direct investment, but three years down the line, with pro and anti-Posco activists agitating, it’s one of the most lawless areas in Orissa as the police remain mute spectators.

And many like 26-year-old Pramod Kumar Dalai are paying a heavy price for belonging to an anti-Posco agitator's family.

“They attacked me brutally and as I fell on the ground, they debated over cutting my hand and throwing it in the river. I somehow escaped in the dark as they debated,” Pramod said recalling the horror.

Last month, a pro-Posco supporter's hand was allegedly chopped off and fed to dogs by anti-Posco activists. A complaint was filed in the police station and villagers later demanded action. But when no action was taken, the pro-Posco supporters took law into their own hands and attacked Pramod whose father is an anti-Posco leader. Now anti-Posco leaders have threatened retaliation.

“We are holding a meeting for a big counter attack. This will continue so long as Posco does not withdraw its project from here,” Chairman of Posco Pratirodh Snagram Samiti Abhaya Sahoo said.

In the last one year police has registered more than 90 cases against various violent incidents at the Posco site. But the police does not want to get too involved, fearing large-scale violence.

Inspector-in-charge of Kujanga Police Station, Anil Kumar Mishra said, “We have deployed two platoons of police force near the Posco site. We are trying to arrest those involved in the violence.”

This month Posco's memorandum of understanding with the Orissa government will complete three years, and with groundwork at the site yet to begin, the Posco project in Orissa still remains a distant dream.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter and Google+)

#Posco #SEZ #FDI #farmers #Orissa