At least 100 people were injured this afternoon, when police cane-charged agitators demanding protection for iron ore export, one of the leaders heading the protest march claimed.
People dependent on mining in Goa had organised a protest rally here on likely moves to ban iron ore export from the state, Pradip Sawant said.
The protest march, which went off in a peaceful manner initially, soon took a violent turn, following a scuffle between the agitators and police, Sawant said.
The protestor claimed that at least 100 agitators were injured in the scuffle that went on for 10 minutes on Dayanand Bandodkar Road, adjacent to the Mandovi river here.
The cane-charge was not provoked, Sawant said, alleging deputy superintendent of olice Deukumar Banaulikar ordered his men to hit the protesters “without any reason”.
He claimed H Bhingui, the main leader of the agitation, was dragged for almost half a kilometre on the road and beaten by the police. SP (North) Waman Tari, however, said the cane-charge was ordered after the mob started pelting stones and bottles on the police.
Several thousand protesters were gathered in the city today as a part of their scheduled agitation, demanding protection to legal mining business and exports. They have called for Chief Minister Digambar Kamat's intervention over their demands.
The iron ore trade in the state is staring at an uncertain future in the wake of the M B Shah Commission of inquiry, whose report is expected to be submitted to the Union mines ministry in the first week of December.
Last year, Goa exported 54 million tonnes of ore, tapped from about 90 mines along the remote talukas.
