Four Posco officials abducted, later released by project opponents

Opponents of Posco’s proposed mega steel plant project today abducted four company officials engaged in the its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities at Patana village in Jagatsinghpur district.

They were released in the evening after beign held for several hours, on a promise to not enter the villages again, said Sisir Mohapatra, sarpanch of Dhinkia panchayat

Nihar Das Pattnaik, the company’s manager, CSR, and three others- Arun Mohapatra, Debasish Swain and Prasant Rout - had gone to Patana village to conduct a survey of households for inclusion in the CSR activities.

The anti-Posco activists, under the banner of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), are believed to have kept the four in an isolated room. There was no news on them being physically harmed, though some reports said, they were assaulted before being taken hostage.

Sources said Posco officials have been held hostage by such activists during visits to villages in the project site on four to five occasions earlier in the past three years.

Earlier, when contacted by Business Standard, the company’s general manager (corporate), Simanta Mohanty, said: “We have not got any information from the officials who had visited Patana. The company has been informed from other sources that our officials have been held. We have informed the district administration.”

Asked if the company sought any security for its officials visiting the villages, he said, “The case of our officials being held up has happened earlier but we have not sought any protection from the district administration, as we don’t perceive any threat to our lives.” Mohanty clarified that Posco had not received any communication from the anti-Posco activists.