Two dozen people arrest for violent protest against Industry

      Raigarh, May 14, 2010: Chhattisgarh police has arrested about two dozen people in connection with the violent protest in Darramuda village against the setting up of SPS Power Industries in that village under Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh.

     Two separate cases under various charges have been registered against about 20 named people and many unnamed in connection with the yesterday incident, in which the villagers had assaulted three senior management officials of the SKS Power Industries and defaced them in Darramuda village, Raigarh police said today.

     About two dozen people have been arrested on the complaint of the SKS Power Industry officials and also one of the police officials, who also sustained injuries in yesterday violent protest by the villagers, the police said.

     The villagers of Darramuda yesterday allegedly took hostage of the General Manager of SKS Power Industries K Hariharan and two other officers Manish Gupta and Rajiv Mathur when they had gone to the village to manage support for the public hearing on May 17 to set up the power plant in Darramuda-Binjkot villages under Kharsia Tehsil of Raigarh district.

     The villagers accused the three officials of distributing money to purchase support for the public hearing and claimed to have defaced them and after garlanding them with shoes, they were taken round of the villages, according to Raigarh police.

     The villagers had detained the three officials for about eight hours and when police reached the spot to rescue, they were confronted with stiff opposition, after which the security forces fired tear gas shell and applied forces and rescued them, police said.

     It was second big protest by the locals with a fortnight as a couple of days back the people had also opposed the proposal of Jindal Steel and Power Limited to set up new industry in the Raigarh District during a public hearing.