Plan for no-protest deal with JSPL puts NGO in soup

A Non-Government Organisation (NGO) in Chhattisgarh has come under scanner for allegedly demanding Rs 5 crore from Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) to avoid protest in a public hearing for the company's power project.

Based on the complaint lodged by Senior General Manager of JSPL Sanjeev Chouhan, Raigarh Police has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the convenor of Jan Chetana Manch, Ramesh Agrawal. The NGO has been working in the field of environment protection in the region.

The JSPL has a 3 million tonne steel plant in Raigarh and it is setting up a 2,400 Mw power plant in the same district. The public hearing for the power plant was held on May 8 though there was uproar from the environment activists. In his written complaint, Chouhan alleged that Agrawal had mounted pressure on the company to pay Rs 5 crore to avoid any uproar during the public hearing.

The complaint named two senior Congress leaders Bajrang Agrawal and Murari Gupta as witnesses. The NGO convenor had asked both the leaders to fix the deal of Rs 5 crore, Chouhan said.

Since the matter rocked the industrial town of Raigarh, Superintendent of Police Rahul Sharma handed over the case to senior official and Additional Superintendent of Police Vivek Shukla. Preliminary investigation suggests the involvement of Ramesh Agrawal, Sharma said.

A case under Section 384, 506B has been filed against Ramesh Agrawal. Sharma said the NGO convenor had not been arrested as police were investigating the matter. The Executive Director of JSPL, A K Mukherji, said that the company was forced to take action as the NGO, in the name of environment protection, had crossed all limits.