Clash over Tata project, additional SP injured

Jagdalpur, Feb 27 (UNI) Tension cropped up at village Takraguda in tribal Bastar after the villages clashed with the police and indulged in heavy stone throwing during their ongoing protest against land acquisition for the mega steel project of the Tata group.

Police sources said an additional superintendent of police Rohit Kurre, who had sustained head injury in stone throwing, has been admitted to the Maharani hospital here late this evening. Few others who were also injured were being brought to the hospital.

Though unconfirmed reports indicated the police had to fire in the air and use force to disperse the crowd, district collector Ganesh Shankar Mishra denied any firing. '' Am not in a position to say anything at the moment '', he told UNI over telephone.

Sources said the trouble started after survey teams, comprising revenue and other officials, began their visit of ten villages in connection with the land acquisition for the integrated steel plant to be set up by the Tata group. Large number of villages, led by women, opposed the survey and also chased them away.

Later, tension cropped up after a police party reached Takraguda where the villages indulged in heavy stone throwing and police used force to control the mob. The incident left several policemen and others injured.

They also claimed that the villagers had 'detained' few policemen, forcing the authorities to rush additional security forces to rescue them and to tackle the situation. '' The situation is now under control'', they claimed.

Tension was prevailing in ten villages of Londiguda block in tribal Bastar over land acquisition for the Tata Steel project during the last fortnight after the villagers began opposing it.

On February 26, the gram panchayats of six villages had announced to convene gram sabha to adopt resolution against land acquisition but the administration declared it as illegal on the ground that the matter had already been placed before the gram sabha in August last year. UNI