Police action against anti-Posco villagers leaves scores injured

By Dilip -

Police enters our village, beat women and children, arrested villagers and cut trees

Dear Friends,

In the wee hours today (at around 4 am) the police has entered into our villages and beaten up women and children, arrested some of our villagers (number is yet to be known).

As we have intimated you earlier that the police force has been gradually swelling in our area amidst our continuing human chain and Dharana in the Balitikira-the boarder of Govindpur and Dhinkia villages of Jagatsingpur district, the police has deceptively entered to the villages with full force at 4 a.m. today. Our people sensed their possible move at around 2 o clock night and alerted the villagers by ringing bells. Gradually women, children, male members started getting accumulated at the Dharana place. At 4 a.m. the police entered and attacked the women and children first. The male police have ruthlessly beaten our women who were lying on a human chain. Some women have been severely inured. The Police have thrown our children like flowers, some of whom are injured. Some villagers have been arrested by the police and been taken to custody. At the moment we do not have exact numbers as the situation is too tensed on the spot. The police have started breaking our betel vines and cutting the trees forcefully. More and more numbers of our villagers have come to the spot and a war like situation has arisen. Our committed villagers are facing a mighty 12 platoons of police force.

We fail to understand the decision of the state to acquire land when the National Green Tribunal has already suspended the environment clearance to the proposed POSCO project in our area. Naveen Patnaik is behaving like an agent of the POSCO company. As the situation is too alarming, we appeal all our friends to protest against the barbarism and call/write/fax to the Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Odisha and Chief Secretary of Odisha, Home Minsitry, Odisha appealing to immediately stop the police brutality and withdrawal of the force from our area. Please call to your respective MPs and MLAs and raise your protest against them urging them to oppose the illegal move. Write to NHRC also.

We request our media friends to rush to our villages and see the situation in their own eyes and report. We will intimate further developments soon.

Please widely circulate this mail.
  
In Solidarity,

Prashant Paikary
Spokesperson, POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti
Mobile no-09437571547
E-Mail - prashantpaikary@gmail.com

The contact address of the authorities

1. Naveen Patnaik - Chief Minister, Odisha
Tel. No.(O) 011 91 674 2531100,011 91 674 2535100,
011 91 674 2531500, Epbax 2163
Tel. No.(R) 011 91 674 2590299, 011 91 674 2591099,
011 91 674 2590844, 011 91 674 2591100,
Fax No- (91)6742535100
E Mail: cmo@ori.nic.in


2.  Muralidhar Chandrakanta Bhanadare, Governor of Odisha,  Fax No- (91)6742536582

3. Shri B K Patnaik, Chief Secretary, E-mail: csori@ori.nic.
Phone no -0674 - 2536700      
            0674 - 2534300      
            0674 - 2322196      
Fax No - 0674 - 2536660 

3. S.K. Mallick, District Collector, Jagatsinghpur, Contact number 09437038401, Fax no - : (91)6724220299

4. Superintendent of Police, Debadutta Singh. Mobile no-09437094678,dmjsp@ori.nic.in

5. Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
Tel n +9111-23016857      
e mail: manmohan@sansad.in

6. Sonia Gandhi: Tel Phone no (91)11-23014161 ; (91)11-23012656, Fax- (91)112301865, soniagandhi@sansad.nic.in,

7. Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission of India, Faridkot House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi 110 001, Tel: +91 11 230 74448, Fax: +91 11 2334 0016, Email: chairnhrc@nic.in

8. Shri. V.Kishore Chandra Deo
Minister of Tribal Affairs
Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
Room No. 400  ‘B’ Wing, Shastri Bhawan,
New Delhi- 110001
vk.deo@sansad.nic.in

9. Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan
Minister of Environment & Forests
Ministry of Environment & Forests
Paryavaran Bhawan,
CGO Complex, Lodhi Road
New Delhi-110003
mosefgoi@nic.in


Bhubaneswar - Scores of women and children of Govindpur village were injured in a lathi-charge resorted by the Odisha Police during the early morning of Sunday. After arresting several villagers, the authorities are now carrying out the land acquisition to facilitate much controversial POSCO project, by destroying betel plantations.
According to the sources, 12 platoons of the Police force entered the village at  4 o’clock in the morning, and resorted to lathi-charge when villagers started protesting.
“Scores of people including women and children have been injured in the Police action and many of the villagers have been taken into custody by the Police. The numbers of injured and arrested is yet to be confirmed.” Spokesperson of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti ,Prashant Paikray told Newzfirst.
Villagers including women and children have been sitting on dharna since 14 January not to allow the Police force deployed by the Government to forcefully acquire the land, into the village. The persistent resistance of the villagers against the forcible land acquisition has caused Odisha Government setback in executing Rs. 52000 crore POSCO steel project in Jagatsinghpur district.

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