Coal mine protest turns violent in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh; several cops injured, vehicles torched
Raigarh (PTI): Several policemen were injured and vehicles set ablaze after an ongoing protest against a coal mining project turned violent in the Tamnar area of Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, officials said.
The mob also stormed into the coal handling plant of Jindal Power Limited, and torched a conveyor belt, two tractors and other vehicles, besides vandalising the office premises on Saturday, the officials informed.
Tension prevailed after protestors indulged in stone-pelting and set ablaze a police bus, a jeep and an ambulance, besides damaging several other government vehicles, they said.
People from 14 affected villages under the (Gare Pelma) Sector-I coal block in the Tamnar area have been staging a sit-in protest at CHP chowk in Libra village since December 12 against a public hearing held for the project on December 8 at Dhaurabhatha, a statement issued by the district administration said.
"On Saturday morning, around 300 protesters gathered at the site, and some of them allegedly blocked the road, disrupting traffic. Senior revenue and police officials intervened around 10 am and persuaded the protesters to return to their tents at the designated protest site," it said.
"However, the crowd continued to swell as people from nearby villages joined, taking the strength to around 1,000. Despite repeated appeals through loudspeakers by revenue and police officials to maintain peace, the crowd allegedly turned violent around 2.30 pm, broke police barricades and attacked personnel with stones and sticks," the statement added.
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Sub-Divisional Officer of Police Anil Vishwakarma, Tamnar police station in-charge Kamla Pusam and a constable sustained serious injuries in the attack, and several other policemen, including women personnel, were also hurt, it said.
"The mob then allegedly set ablaze a police bus, a jeep and an ambulance, besides damaging several other government vehicles. The protesters then reportedly moved towards the Jindal company's coal handling plant (CHP), forced their way inside and torched a conveyor belt, two tractors and other vehicles, besides vandalising the office premises," the release said.
The situation did not ease even after local legislator from Lailunga, Vidyawati Sidar, Raigarh Collector Mayank Chaturvedi, and Superintendent of Police Divyang Patel reached the spot to pacify the crowd, it said.
Stones were again hurled, and another incident of arson was reported inside the CHP plant, the district administration's statement added.
Meanwhile, police said the situation was tense but under control, and security has been tightened in the area.
Collector Mayank Chaturvedi told reporters that villagers had been sitting peacefully at the protest site for the past 15 days and the administration had been ensuring necessary facilities.
"On Saturday at around 2 to 2.30 pm, some anti-social elements provoked protesters and stone-pelting began, injuring security personnel deployed at the site. Further attempts were made by public representatives, district administration and police officials to hold talks, but the crowd remained aggressive and appeared leaderless," he said.
Efforts are on to identify responsible persons from the crowd to restore dialogue, he added.
The condition of the injured is stable, and some have been shifted to Raigarh for better treatment, the collector added.
Villagers said they have been demanding the cancellation of the proposed mining project and claimed the public hearing held for its clearance was against prescribed norms.
They alleged that the situation turned tense after police attempted to remove protesters from the demonstration site on Saturday morning.
One of the agitators, Rajesh Singh Markam of Kasdol village in the Tamnar area, on Saturday submitted a complaint to Raigarh SP claiming he has been facing threats from the local SHO.
Some purported videos of the clashes went viral on social media.
They showed a woman police officer being assaulted by women in the crowd, while a few others were seen trying to shield her.
Chhattisgarh Congress president Deepak Baij termed the clash unfortunate and blamed it on the state government's "stubbornness".
The state government is forcibly displacing villagers and tribals from their forests and land for coal mining, Biaj alleged.
Villagers and tribals protesting the alleged forcible allotment of the coal block and a 'fake' public hearing in Tamnar's Gare Pelma Sector-I were subjected to police lathi-charge at the behest of industrialists, after which the agitated villagers retaliated, he claimed.
"The villagers were holding a peaceful agitation but were provoked by the government's approach," Baij added.
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Organisation should be strengthened: Tharoor supports Digvijaya's views
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday came out in support of the views of his party colleague Digvijaya Singh, saying the organisation should be strengthened.
At the 140th Foundation Day event at the Congress' Indira Bhawan headquarters, Tharoor was seated next to Digvijaya Singh and exchanged notes.
Ahead of the CWC meet on Saturday, Singh created a flutter by lauding the organisational power of RSS-BJP as he shared Narendra Modi's old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister by sitting at the feet of their leaders.
He also raised the issue of strengthening the Congress organisation at the grassroots level, asserting it was much needed in the fight against the ruling BJP and to oust it from power.
A day later, Digvijaya Singh said he had already stated whatever he had to say. "For 50 years I have been with the Congress party, and I have fought these communal forces, whether in the assembly, parliament or in the organisation," he noted.
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"I have basic differences and am opposed to their ideology. I have and will continue to fight against such people," Singh claimed. When asked to comment on his Saturday's remarks, he said, "Every organisation needs strengthening.
Tharoor, when asked to comment on the issue, said, "The organisation should be strengthened, there is no doubt."
On being seated next to Singh and whether the two exchanged views on the matter, Tharoor said, "We keep talking with each other, we are friends and talk to each other."
"It is the 140th foundation day of the Congress. It is a very important event for the party. It is a day in which we look back on our very remarkable history and the contributions the party has made to the nation," he also told reporters.
In a post on X, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, "Today marks the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Indian National Congress, an organisation that played a pivotal role in leading India's struggle for independence from British rule."
"Since its first session in 1885, the party has remained a cornerstone of the nation's democratic journey and political evolution. The occasion was marked with solemnity and camaraderie at Indira Bhavan today," Tharoor said in his post.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said, "I feel the BJP is distorting the intent of Digvijaya's post. The Sangh, which spreads hatred and gets inspiration from the ideology of Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, we don't need to learn anything from them."
"We are the Indian National Congress, and we fought the freedom struggle against injustice and exploitation of the British rule, and turned it into a Jan Andolan. We don't need to learn anything from anyone; rather, others should learn from us," Shrinate claimed.
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Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, "We have a lot in the Congress, and others should learn from the Congress instead. We certainly don't need to learn from the RSS as we oppose that ideology."
Another leader, Rajiv Shukla, said, "The roots of this party are so deep that they can never be wiped out."
#WATCH | Delhi | On Congress leader Digvijaya Singh praising the organisational strength of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, "We have a history of 140 years, and we can learn a lot from it. We can learn from ourselves, too. Discipline is very… pic.twitter.com/NUfz7scRiu
— ANI (@ANI) December 28, 2025
