BHUBANESWAR: In what seems to be a desperate move to stall the ongoing land acquisition move by the government, anti-Posco group on Wednesday threatened to organize a nude protest, even as South Ko

DHINKIA: A large number of anti-Posco villagers, including women and children, defied the prohibitory order of the administration on Tuesday and organized a protest meeting at Patana haat under Dhinkia gram panchayat after the cremation of three bomb blast victims.

The bodies of Narahari Sahoo, Tarun Mandal and Manas Jena killed in a bomb blast on Saturday, were cremated in Patana village in the presence of family members, anti-Posco villagers and leaders of several opposition parties.

Land acquisition for the Posco steel project continued amid a tense atmosphere with the anti-project brigade led by Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS) staging its protest rally at Patana village in the project site violating the prohibitory orders.

The protest meet was supported by leaders of six political parties and anti-displacement leaders in the presence of the kin of three victims who were killed in a bomb blast on last Saturday.

Paradip (Odisha): As land acquisition for Posco steel plant continued for second day on Monday in Odisha, Jagatsinghpur district administration clamped prohibitory orders in Patana area where three

Administration clamps prohibitory orders to prevent opponents' rally

Continuing its land acquisition drive at the Posco project site near Paradip, the Jagatsinghpur district administration on Monday dismantled 24 betel vines in Gobindpur village even as the anti-Posco brigade mobilized its supporters to hold a protest rally at neighbouring Patana village where three persons were killed in a bomb blast on Saturday. Anticipating trouble during the rally, the administration has clamped Section 144 of CrPC at Patana village barring congregation of people.

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Sunday resumed land acquisition for the proposed Posco steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district, a day after three persons were killed in a bomb blast in the project area.

Official sources said government representatives demolished three betel vines at Gobindapur village, restarting land takeover for Posco after about a month. The government was forced to stop land acquisition work in the first week of February due to stiff opposition from a section of villagers.

Paradip (Odisha), March 3: Amid tension in proposed Posco plant area where three anti-project activists were killed last night while allegedly making bombs, the Odisha government today resumed land

BHUBANESWAR: Taking advantage of the budget session being in recess, the Odisha government has begun preparations to shortly resume land acquisition for the proposed Posco steel project in Jagatsinghpur district, official sources said on Wednesday.

"We intend to restart land acquisition for Posco this week," a government source told TOI, refusing to divulge the date from which the operations would be launched again. The issue was discussed at a meeting chaired by chief secretary B K Patnaik on Tuesday evening, but government and Posco representatives are tight-lipped about the deliberations.

At 4 AM on Sunday, 3 February, nearly 400 policemen surrounded the entry points to the villages of Gobindpur and Dhinkia in the Jagatsingpur district of Odisha.

KENDRAPADA: More than 250 international human rights organizations, comprising social workers, scientists, legal luminary activists, academics among others, have strongly criticized the Odisha government for using forces to acquire fertile lands and betel vines in the proposed Posco site in Jagatsinghpur district. They also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday, urging him to stop land acquisition works in these areas.

In the letter, they also condemned the use of force against protesters, including women and children. They stated in their letter that the most recent wave of police violence between February 3 and 6 in Gobindapur village saw the men in uniform use the same pattern of abuse, threats, and intimidation by the government to forcibly acquire land for Posco's steel processing plant.