Villagers demonstrate at Essar Oil project in Burdwan

The work was also stopped at the pit number 27 following the demonstration, Burdwan Superintendent of Police S M H Mirza said.

Essar Oil has six coal bed methane wells in Jathgoria.

Yesterday, a number of company employees were briefly detained by villagers demanding compensation for their land, the SP said.

He said that the police reached the spot and rescued the employees.

Essar Oil took up the project during the tenure of the earlier Left Front government in 2008.

Villagers have alleged they were denied the right price for their land.