Govt denies entry to Posco's site

BHUBANESWAR: Tension mounted in Kujang area near Paradip on Wednesday when a group of anti-Posco activists were denied permission to hold a hunger strike at Balitutha, the venue of last Thursday's clash where 17 people were injured, official sources said.

Police said that it denied permission to the activists of Nav Nirman Samiti (NNS) in view of the prevailing situation. NNS was one of the bodies opposed to the Posco project.

This apart, the police also did not allow a delegation of the displacement leaders led by former bureaucrat B D Sharma to enter Dhinkia village, considered as the epicentre of the anti-project movement. Sharma had to return from mid-way in the face of opposition from the project supporters.

Sharma later alleged that the police did not help him when a group of people identifying themselves as project supporters prevented them from visiting the area.

Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) president who was holed up at Dhinkia village ever since the clash between the two groups, told that the government was trying to hide things happening at the proposed plant site.

He along with a number of Left parties and civil right bodies demanded for immediate withdrawal of police from Dhinkia village.

"We did not allow them to sit at Balitutha as prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC was imposed in the area last night," said Jagatsinghpur Collector P K Meherda.

Times of India