Pro-POSCO villager's palm chopped off

Kendrapara, May 15 (UNI) In a shocking incident the palm of a Pro-POSCO villager was chopped off by anti-POSCO supporters in Gobindapur village under the proposed mega steel plant area to be set up by the South Korea Steel major POSCO yesterday.

The anti-POSCO agitators, opposing the Rs 51,000 crore steel plant, the biggest FDI in the country, allegedly injured two pro-POSCO persons of Gobindapur.

One of them was critically injured as the anti-POSCO supporters chopped off one of the palms, Inspector-in-Charge of Kujanga police station Anil Mishra said.

According to Mishra, when the Pro-POSCO people were organizing a meeting along with community feast in Govindapur, some anti-POSCO supporters arrived at the spot and started pelting stones at them leading to a tension between the two groups.

Later, on Wednesday night, when one of the pro-POSCO villagers Natabar Khatua, a resident of Gobindapur under Kujanga block, was returning to his house some anti-POSCO supporters, led by Gundia Kandi attacked him with a sword.

Another pro-POSCO villager Susil Mohanty was also injured by the anti-POSCO people when he tried to rescue Natabar from the wrath of the anti-POSCO people, police said.

Both injured were first admitted in the Kujanga Community Health Center (CHC) but later Natabar Khatua was shifted to SCB medical college and hospital at Cuttack in a critical condition.

The situation in the village was described as tense after the incident.

Police forces had been deployed soon after the incident to avert any untoward incident.

Police had filed a case against Gundia Kandi and others under section-307 of Indian Penal Code on the charges of attacking Natabar Khatua and others.

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