CBI arrests two RPF officials
The CBI sleuths on Thursday conducted a raid on the Railway Protection Force office and arrested one inspector and a sub-inspector on charges of taking bribe.
The two RPF officials were caught red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 500 from the relative of an accused,sources said.
Abhay Sahu bails rejected
ABHAY SAHU: At another hearing, the Junior Magistrate, First Class (Kujang), Alpana Swain, rejected the bail plea of anti-Posco leader Abhay Sahu. Sahu, president of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), had been arrested from Nuapokhari while he was returning to his village from Bhubaneswar
Altogether 10 cases had been slapped against Sahu during the last six months which included clash with police during construction of a coastal road and involvement in a dowry-related death.
2000 tribals rally in Kalinga Nagar
KENDRAPADA: Over 2,000 tribals took out a rally at Kalinga Nagar on Monday to mark the sixth anniversary of police firing in which 14 tribals, including three women, were killed. Six years ago, police fired at tribals protesting against forcible occupation of land and their consequent displacement. The immediate provocation then was construction of a boundary wall by Tata Steelfor its six million tonnes steel plant.
On Monday, the anti-industry groups under the banner of Bisthapan Birodhi Janamanch (BBJM) took out a rally from 'martyrs column' in Champakoila village to Veerbhumi at Ambagadia, where the tribals had been killed and vowed not to spare an inch of land for the steel plant. Family members and relatives of firing victims offered rituals at Ambagadia also.
Prafulla Samantray, an anti-land acquisition leader and president of Lokshakti Abhijan, accused chief minister Naveen Patnaik of working for private industrial houses at the cost of the masses, who voted him to power. He said Naveen is least interested in the development of tribals. "He has not bothered to visit Kalinga Nagar even after six years of the firing speaks volumes of his mindset," he said.
"Odisha has about 97 per cent chromite, 71 per cent bauxite, 33 per cent iron ore and 32 per cent manganese resources of India
The anti-industry leaders vowed not to allow industries. "We won't tolerate torture of innocent tribals. There shouldn't be any industry at the cost of tribals and their livelihood. Our fight against industrialisation will continue till the government changes its decision to set up industries on farm land. Fourteen of our fellowmen sacrificed their lives for the cause of tribals. We are ready to die but will not spare an inch of land for industry," said Rabindra Jarika, secretary of BBJM.
On the other hand , about 800 people led by Visthapita Parivar Unnayan Parishad, a pro-industry outfit participated in a rally at Tata's rehabilitation colony at Gobarahat village. They were led by president Dhaneswar Soi and secretary Biren Jamuda.
Though the two parallel meetings were held at a short distance of each other, there was no clash between the rival groups. "The rally and meetings passed off peacefully. We deployed six platoons of police force to check any untoward incident," said K C Mund, the police officer of Kalinganagar police station.
Maoist blast kills three policemen in
Kandhamal
"They have multiple injuries," said a doctor. Theblast took place around 10.30 in the morning. The deceased policemen were identified as Sunasir Mohanty, Uma Jani and Sangram Lenka. The police personnel in two vehicles along with two dogs were reportedly on their way to the site where pieces of the Maoist cadre's body from the overnight land mine blast were recovered at Srirampur in Kotagada police station area. The police team was barely three km away from a CRPF camp when the land mine exploded.
While the first vehicle was badly damaged, the one following and the occupants in it escaped unhurt, a police officer said, adding that the two dogs were not injured. Soon after the incident, CRPF and other police personnel rushed to the area. SP (Kandhamal) J N Pankaj and other senior police officials also headed for the place. Home secretary U N.Behera confirmed the incident and said appropriate measures had been initiated. Thursday was the second day of the two-day Odisha bandh called by the extremists.
This was the first major Maoist violence recorded in 2012. Earlier, the extremists had set fire to three mobile towers in Ganjam district's Baragarh area on Tuesday night. Sources said police were still clueless whether the land mine that exploded on Thursday was planted on Tuesday night itself or the night after.
"We suspect they might have planted the explosive on Wednesday night, because it was all but expected that police parties would raid different places in the area after Tuesday night's blast in which one of their men was blown to pieces. This was perhaps a strategy by the Maoists to thwart combing operations in the area," said a senior police official.
"We had earlier checked with many local people to identify the body of the Maoist cadre, but in vain. Everybody pleaded ignorance," he added. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik expressed his condolence to the bereaved families. He said the government would provide Rs 8 lakh to the families of each of the deceased. This is beside Rs 10 lakh towards insurance, a job to a dependant member in the family and family pension, an official release here said. It added that the government will bear all expenses of the three injured persons undergoing treatment.
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