Tension continued to prevail in the Kalinga Nagar steel hub in Orissa’s Jajpur district for the second consecutive day on Thursday. The area had turned into a war zone yesterday following a violent clash between the tribals opposing Tata Steel project and police force which led to the death of one person and injury to 24, including 15 policemen.
Not a single policeman could be spotted at Chandia village, the epicenter of the trouble and its nearby villages. The force is reported to have been withdrawn and stationed at Kalinganagar police station.
On the other hand, hundreds of activists and supporters of Vistapan Virodhi Jan Manch (VVJM), the forum protesting against forced displacement of the tribals in Kalinganagar since last six years, were seen guarding the village armed with their traditional weapons and attire.
Activists of VVJM and locals complained that they had not received the body of Laxman Jamuda, who had died in police action yesterday, till late this evening.
Laxman, a 55 years old lonely bachelor of Chandia village, was a supporter of VVJM. Lalmohan Jamuda, nephew of the victim, said the policemen who had taken the body for post-mortem on Wednesday had not returned the body to the villagers.
“We are hearing that the authorities have handed over the body to a distant relative of the deceased after post-mortem and the same is being cremated in Puri,” Lalmohan said. He claimed that Laxman had succumbed to bullet injuries.
The local police, however, are tightlipped about the post-mortem report.
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The VVJM, meanwhile, is holding discussions among their members to decide on their future course of action.
Local Congress leader and former minister, Sarat Rout today visited Chandia to express his solidarity with VVJM. Similarly, the activists of a voluntary organisation from Bhubaneswar also visited the village to provide medical aid to the injured persons. Wednesday was the fourth day of evacuation of Chandia, wherein some displaced families went with administration support to the village to take out their belongings and demolish their house.
Armed security men who were accompanying the project officials and displaced families faced the resistance of the residents when they tried to forcibly demolish the house of a woman who had not opted for displacement earlier. The villagers came to her rescue and pelted stones at police who in retaliation fired rubber bullets at the mob leaving one dead and many injured.