Land acquisition for Posco restarts amid tragic incident

Bomb blast kills 3 project opponents

The Jagatsinghpur district administration on Sunday resumed land acquisition for the proposed steel plant of South Korean steel major Posco near Paradip in Odisha, a day after three people died in the area because of crude bomb explosion.

"There was very limited time for us to carry on with the land acquisition process due to the law and order situation there. Only three people tore down their betel vines and handed over the area to us. The process will continue full fledge from Monday onwards," said Satya Kumar Mallick, district collector of Jagatsinghpur.

On Saturday night, three persons were killed and one was injured in crude bomb explosion in Patana village under Dhinkia panchayat, known to be a bastion of anti-Posco group.

Police said, prima facie it was revealed that the incident took place as the bombs went off during preparation.

"We have seized gun powder, razor blades and other explosives such as phosphorus from the area which clearly indicates that the deceased were engaged in crude bomb making. We had information that the anti-Posco activists might attack us on the day of land acquisition and we strongly believe that the bomb exploded at the time of preparation and took three lives," said Satyabrata Bhoi, superintended of police, Jagatsinghpur.

Leaders of anti-Posco group, however, said the supporters of the Posco project had lobbed the crude bombs to quell their protests.

"The bombs were targeted at the place I live in. It all happened because of the police presence in the area," said Abhaya Sahu, head of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS).

Though the police have not completed investigation yet, local MLA and state health minister Damodar Rout demanded a crime branch probe into the incident.

"I strongly demand a CBI investigation into the matter. The area has seen increased presence Bangladeshi infiltrators. There should be a proper inquiry," he said.

Several Left parties organized a protest rally in Bhubaneswar on Sunday demanding the state government to compensate the families of the blast victims and bear the medical expense of the injured.

Out of 4,004 acres required for the 12 million tonne plant, the company has said, it can start work on the first phase comprising 8 million tonne if it is handed over a contiguous patch of 2,700 acres. The state government already has 2,000 acres in its possession.

In the first phase of land acquistion drive that ran between February 3 to 7 , after a gap of one and a half year, the state government tried to acquire the rest 700 acre area, but became successful in taking control over 250 acres of government land, which was used by the villagers for betel cultivation.

The government, after a High Court order, has decided not to acquire any private land in the project site.