Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti leader Abhay Sahu said though he had ended his fast launched on February 5 yesterday, the dharna would continue as two platoons of police were still deployed outside Gobindpur. "We will continue to protest till the forces are completely withdrawn. We don't have faith in this repressive and government," he said. Land acquisition, which resumed on February 3 after a gap of over a year, was suspended from February six following clashes between anti-Posco activists and police. School students who took part in the agitation returned to their classes at Dhinkia, Nuagaon, Gada Kujanga and Patna apparently after withdrawal of the hunger-strike by Sahu. Meanwhile, social activist B D Sharma, some advocates from the Orissa High Court and journalists visited the dharna site during the day to express solidarity with the protestors. Altogether 65 betel vine plantations were dismantled between February 3 and 5 at Gobindpur village under Dhinkia grampanchayat, considered the epi-centre of anti-Posco agitation, and compensation of Rs 1.08 crore paid to the people on the spot, Land Acquisition Officer Nrusingha Swain said. Earlier, land acquisition for the mega project had been halted in December 2011 following violence during construction of a coastal road.
