Protesters, opposing a project here by South Korean steel major POSCO, violated prohibitory orders and held siege a crucial entry point to the proposed plant site.
PARADIP (Orissa): Protesters, opposing a project here by South Korean steel major POSCO, on Tuesday violated prohibitory orders and held siege a crucial entry point to the proposed plant site, as police detained nearly 1000 activists.
The rallyists, who outnumbered the police personnel deployed in the area, captured the Balitutha area, where a key bridge over a small river functions as a link to the plant site.
The entry point at Balitutha had been under the control of anti-POSCO activists for a long time last year before they were driven away from the place by supporters of the project in November last.
Though police detained nearly 1000 anti-posco activists, more protesters joined the rally at Balia women's college near here and a large number of agitators surged to Balitutha area despite prohibitory orders under section 144 CRPC.
"A large number of activists proceeding for the rally were stopped at various points and detained at Balia college to prevent any untoward incident," Jagatsinghpur district Superintendent of Police R K Sharma said.
Those detained included more than 300 from nearby areas and the rest from Orissa's steel hub of Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district, Bhubaneswar, Ganjam and Rayagada, police said.
The rally was organised by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), which has been spearheading the agitation against the greenfield project.
Strongly opposing any move to acquire fertile agricultural land for the proposed steel plant, the activists have demanded adequate compensation as well as proper rehabilitation and resettlement measures for the families affected by the project.
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