Anti-Posco stir leader Sahu held

BHUBANESWAR: Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) president Abhaya Sahu was arrested late on Sunday evening for his involvement in as many as 25 cases of kidnapping, extortion, illegal detention and arson.

“All these cases were pending at Kujanga and other police stations of the district,” Jagatsinghpur SP RK Sharma said.

Anticipating a backlash from his supporters, police have shifted Sahu to the Choudwar jail in Cuttack.

Sahu, a CPI member, is spearheading the agitation against Korean giant Posco’s proposed 12-million tonne steel plant at Paradip.

The plant has made little progress because of the agitation, although the memorandum of understanding for it was signed on June 22, 2005.

Sahu’s arrest has created tension in Paradip, forcing the deployment of 13 police platoons at the plant site. Soon after the arrest, locals opposing the plant blocked roads to Dhinkia village, the centre of anti-Posco activities where Sahu was camping for the past several months.

Seven days ago, he had left the village to go to Andhra Pradesh for some work. Following a tip-off, police arrested him on his way back near the Bhutmundai square on the Daitari-Paradip national highway at around 8.30 pm.

Protesting the arrest, the CPI said it would call a state-wide bandh if Sahu was not released soon.