Villagers clash with police; 20 injured

Angul, Jun 10 (UNI) At least twenty people were injured when villagers and police clashed over the issue of construction ork of a private steel company about 25 km from here.

DIG, North and Central Range Arun Kumar Sarangi told UNI here that police today resorted to lathicharge to drive away an irate mob of Raghunathpur and Sarapa villages, which was trying to disrupt the construction work inside Bhushan Steel Limited.

Mr Sarangi said around four hundred villagers reached the plant and tried to stop the construction work and pelted stones at the police.

Finding no alternative, the police resorted to lathicharge and around 20 people from both sides were injured, the DIG said.

As many as 20 people were taken into custody in connection with the violence, he stated.

Mr Sarangi said yesterday the company was trying to construct its compound wall around the plant but the work stopped after the villagers opposed.

Dhenkanal district Collector J A Khan, DIG A K Sarangi and six platoons of security personnel were present at the spot.

Mr Sarangi described the situation as tense. Senior police officers were camping at the site and monitoring the situation to prevent any untoward incident.

UNI XC-BD KK BDP CS1948