Anti-Posco protests erupt again; 1,000 detained

01 April 2008

Mumbai: Activists opposing a steel project being set up by South Korean steel major Posco in Orissa today tried to stage a major protest rally near the plant site, but were foiled by the police as nearly 1,000 activists were detained on their way to the site.

The protesters under the banner of the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), organised what they called a 'Bikalpa Bikash Samavesha.

They violated prohibitory orders imposed in and around Balitutha area and held siege of an entry point to the proposed plant site before being detained by the police.

The activists were stopped at various points and detained in order to prevent any untoward incident and law and order problem, said Jagatsinghpur district SP R K Sharma.

Police detained some 300 protesters at Balia college and as many at Badabandha railway station in Jajpur district. About 200 CPI workers were detained at Bhubaneswar and 150 from Ganjam district at the same time, police said.

The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) has been spearheading an agitation against the 12 million tonne greenfield project proposed to be set up by the South Korean steel major near Paradip port in Orissa, .