Four Posco officials held hostage for 6 hours

Anti-Posco activists today abducted four Posco officials engaged in the company's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities at Patana village under Dhinkia village panchayat in Jagatsinghpur district.

Four Posco officials- Nihar Das Pattnaik, manager, CSR and three others- Arun Mohapatra, Debasish Swain and Prasant Rout had gone to Patana village to conduct house hold survey to include families and poor people under the company's CSR activities.

The Posco officials were finally released in the late evening after being held hostage for six hours. They were freed after giving an undertaking that they would not enter the villages again, said Sisir Mohapatra, sarpanch of Dhinkia panchayat

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

Sources said, Posco officials have been held hostage by anti-Posco activists during their visits to villages in the project site on 4 to 5 occasions earlier in last three years.

When contacted by Business Standard, Simanta Mohanty, general manager (corporate), Posco said, “We have not got any information from the officials who had visited Patana village. The company has been informed from other sources that our officials have been held up. We have informed the district administration on the incident.” 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 for any protection from the district administration as we don't perceive any threat to our lives”.

Mohanty clarified that Posco has not received any communication from the anti-Posco activists who are believed to have abducted the company officials. Meanwhile, the pro-Posco activists have claimed that the abduction of Posco officials has been done at the behest of the CPI leaders who are opposed to the Posco steel project.

They have inspired the PPSS activists to detain the officials and paralyze the company's activities. Nirvaya Samantray, member of the United Action Committee for Posco project, “Posco officials have started the CSR activities at the proposed area but there is no symbol of protest. Yesterday, the decision of CPI to protest Posco project has given inspiration to the PPSS activists to abduct Posco officials from Patana village.”