Villagers detain 4 Posco staffers

KENDRAPDA: Anti-land acquisition villagers released four employees of Posco on Wednesday, more than 12 hours after abducting them at Dhinkia on Tuesday evening. Police said the four were detained when they were going to their office at Gadakujang in the proposed steel plant site in Jagatsinghpur district.
"We detained the foyur Posco employees for entering our village illegally.We released them on Wednesday after they assured us not to enter Dhinkia at any point of time," said Manorama Khatua, a leader of Posco Pratirodhaka Sangram Samiti (PPSS).
"We had warned Posco and district administration officials several times against entering the proposed steel plant site without fulfilling our demands," said Prakash Jena, an anti-Posco villager at Dhinkia.
"Many villagers have agreed to give their land in lieu of proper compensation. But the authorities are yet to announce a proper package," said Nirvaya Samantray the general secretary of United Action Committee .
Last year, Posco had opened its office at Gadakujang to speed up land acquisition and the construction of a boundary wall.
Four months ago, some villagers of Gadakujang had detained four drivers and four helpers of trucks coming from Pune carrying containers for the Posco office at Noliasahi, said Khatua.
"Police are investigating the case ", said Gupteswar Bhoi, the police officer of Kujang police station.
The anti-Posco villagers have constructed wooden gates and barricades at all the village entry points to prevent the entry of officials.
"We will discuss about land acquisition with the people soon in Jagatsinghpur and seek their cooperation before going ahead with the tree felling and boundary construction work," said Surjit Das, the additional district magistrate (ADM) of Paradip.