The police in Singrauli have stooped to a new low, according to Greenpeace. Barely two months after four forest rights activists were arrested from Greenpeace’s Waidhan office local police officials once again arrested two Van Satyagrahis from their sleep in a midnight raid last night at the NGO’s guest house in Waidhan.
Earlier on Tuesday, the police had seized a mobile signal booster and solar panels that Greenpeace had set up in Amelia village, all this for protesting against an Essar-led coal mine that would destroy the Mahan forest.
Greenpeace activists, Akshay Gupta and Rahul Gupta have been taken into police custody, while their colleagues have been threatened with arrests if they are seen mobilising villagers before the Gram Sabha. This is Akshay’s second arrest since May, when he was arrested with three other activists for peacefully protesting against Essar and Hindalco’s proposed coal mine in Mahan forests.
Senior campaigner at Greenpeace Priya Pillai in a statement here on Wednesday said, “The local authorities are intimidating people in a ploy to cater to the interests of corporate giants.
On June 30, acting on a writ petition we filed, the Jabalpur High Court directed the SP of Singrauli to conduct an inquiry as to why an FIR was not filed on forged Gram Sabha complaint.
Is this in reaction to our writ petitionIJ What is the real motive behind the local police in disrupting communication like thisIJ How does a mobile signal booster qualify to be ‘illegal’ communication equipmentIJ Since when has providing electricity through solar panels has become a crimeIJ”
