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.
ALSO READ: Bihar: 8 wagons of goods train derail, rail traffic disrupted
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.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
EC hands over probe into gherao of seven judicial officers in Bengal's Malda to NIA
Kolkata (PTI): The Election Commission of India on Thursday handed over the probe into the gherao of the seven judicial officers in West Bengal's Malda district to the NIA, following a Supreme Court directive.
Observing that West Bengal was the "most polarised state", the Supreme Court delivered a stinging indictment of the state administration after seven judicial officers engaged in SIR exercise were held hostage by protesters in Malda district and directed a CBI or NIA probe into the incident.
In an April 2 letter to the National Investigating Agency, the poll body referred to the apex court's order and directed it to probe the Wednesday incident.
Talking to PTI, a top official of the poll body said the NIA team would reach West Bengal on Friday.
Slamming the state administration for its "complete failure" and inaction over the "deplorable" gherao and attack on the officers during the Special Intensive Revision(SIR) of the voters list, the court also asked the EC to "requisition adequate Central Forces and deploy them at all places where judicial officers are adjudicating the objections".
West Bengal will have a two-phase poll -- on April 23 and 29.
The Supreme Court further said the incident was a "brazen attempt not only to browbeat the judicial officers" but also amounted to a challenge to the authority of this Supreme Court.
The top court gave the order after it took suo motu cognisance of a letter from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court detailing a harrowing night where the judicial officers, including three women and a five-year-old child, were held captive by a mob for over nine hours without food or water.
The incident occurred during the SIR exercise in the Kaliachowk area of Malda district, and as per the order, seven judicial officers were gheraoed by "anti-social elements" at a BDO office starting at 3:30 PM on Wednesday.
The officers were rescued by security forces around midnight on Wednesday after they were gheraoed over the alleged deletion of names from the electoral rolls, officials said.
