Public hearing for private coal mining cancelled after villagers clash in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh
Hazaribag (Jharkhand) (PTI): Villagers clashed among themselves during a public hearing organized by the Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) for a private coal company at Barkagaon in Hazaribag district of the state on Tuesday, a senior police officer said.
A date for a fresh hearing will be fixed later.
Hazaribag Superintendent of Police Anjani Anjan told PTI that a group of villagers attacked another group during the public hearing organised at a football ground in Goldalpura in Barkagaon.
"The public hearing had to be cancelled as the clash created chaos and the atmosphere turned violent due to the presence of people protesting against the public hearing," the SP said.
According to eyewitnesses, a large number of people armed with spears, arrows and sickles arrived at the public hearing site in tractors and stormed directly into the venue. Most of them were wearing masks, mufflers and helmets to conceal their faces. Those who had already been present there also engaged in the clash.
"In a pre-planned manner, the attackers assaulted the farmers, villagers and other raiyats present there. Even women were not spared and were beaten, leading to screams and panic at the scene," a police official said.
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition and BJP state president Babulal Marandi condemned the incident on the X platform and questioned the government's functioning.
Former Barkagaon MLA Amba Prasad also reached the spot and spoke to the villagers.
So far, no arrest has been made in this connection.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
