Farmers killed for giving land to Essar plant

THE OTHER INDIA

Maoist guerrillas killed two farmers in the Dantewada district on Saturday night for allegedly proposing to hand over their land for an upcoming steel plant of the Essar group.

Dantewada superintendent of police O P Pal said that more than 40 armed Maoists raided Bhansi village, about 400 km from here, past midnight and slit the throats of two villagers.

The victims were identified as Amit (26) and Hungaram (50). The villagers fell prey to the rebels' fury for supporting the proposed steel plant of Essar and giving their consent to hand over their land for the project, Pal added.

The steel major had inked an MoU with the Chhattisgarh government in July 2005 for setting up the integrated steel plant in Dantewada with a 3.2 million tonne capacity.

The Dantewada district administration had earlier tried to convene a Gram Sabha meeting to seek the consent of villagers for the land acquisition. But the meeting was cancelled following protests from a major section of the villagers.

The extremists of the Left radical group warned the residents of neighbouring Dhurli village of the same consequences if they gave away their ancestral farmland to Essar Steel.