Anti-POSCO leader Abhaya Sahu arrested

Paradip (Odisha), Nov 26: Anti-Posco leader Abhaya Sahu was arrested in Tirtol area near here in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha, the police said.

"Sahu, President of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), was held by a police team at Nuapokhari last night when he was returning from Bhubaneswar to his village," IIC of Tritol police station Debadutta Kar said.

The police team stopped Sahu's car on Manijanga- Erasama road near the proposed project site of South Korean steel major Posco following an information and took him into custody, he said.

The PPSS president was arrested in connection with several cases pending against him, Kar said.

The cases slapped by police against Sahu related to alleged assault and imposition of fine on people who did not support him, police said adding that the anti-Posco leader faced about a dozen cases of varied nature.

Sahu, however, refuted the charges and claimed that he was arrested in false cases. The PPSS chief has been leading an agitation for the last six years against land acquisition for the proposed Rs 52,000 crore Posco steel project.

Earlier, Sahu had been arrested by police in October, 2008. He was released after obtaining bail from the court in August, 2009, sources said. The arrest of Sahu, who would be produced before court shortly, has triggered tension in the area with PPSS activists protesting the move.

PTI