West Bengal: Agitators release POSCO officials

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Bhubaneswar, May 12: Anti-POSCO agitators who took two POSCO officials into hostage late tonight released them following an undertaking from the officials that they will not enter into the proposed project site in future.

POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samittee leaders, who have been agitating against the establishment of the mega steel plant by the POSCO in their area, told sources over phone that they had decided to release the two officials kept hostage inside a house in Dhinkia village for more than nine hours.

Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police Y Jethwa confirmed to sources that the two POSCO officials have been released though he did not give further details.

Earlier, the release was delayed as te agitators could not make up their minds whether to handover the two POSCO officials to the police who were waiting outside the village or to the POSCO authorities.

Sources said POSCO Kujang unit receptionists Rosalin Parida, local Public Relations Officer Debashish Swain and Corporate Responsibility Senior Executive Choudhary Pranabandhu Das had gone to Gobindpur village to initiate negotiations with the local villagers to part with their land for the project when they were gheraoed by the anti-POSCO agitators who confined them in a house.

Later, they released Ms Parida and the driver but took Mr Swain and Mr Das to Dhinkia village and kept hostage, demanding an undertaking that no POSCO official would enter into their village in connection with the steel plant project to release the two officials.

POSCO-India while strongly condemning the act of the agitators hinted that they would like to have dialogue with anyone but made a condition that it should be held under normal circumstances.

Soon the Jagatsinghpur district officials started negotiating with the anti-POSCO agitators to release the two POSCO officials.

Jagatsinghpur police had placed a jeep outside the village to pick the two POSCO officials.

UNI

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