The Tarbha police on Wednesday arrested 10 people on the charge of damaging a tipper of a stone quarry owner and threatening to kill driver using slangs in Naktikana village in Subarnapur district.
Sources said one Sangram Mishra has taken on lease 11.330-acre land of Tunki Dungri hill under Naktikana mouza in Subarnapur district’s Tarbha tehsil. Alleging that blasting noise and quarrying activities are polluting the environment and making their day-to-day life miserable, villagers lodged a complaint to the district Collector, Tehsildar, BDO and the local police on September 29 demanding immediate closure of the stone quarry. Due to their protest, the quarry had remained closed for the last 45 days.
On Wednesday, Sangram Mishra was taking stone from the quarry in presence of Tarbha police and a platoon of IRBN force in the morning. Knowing this, villagers blocked the road and detained the stone-laden tractors and tippers. This led to a scuffle between police and villagers.
Then, police arrested and court-forwarded 10 of them on the basis tipper driver Dinabandhu Nayak’s (40) complaint. In protest, 70-80 villagers staged a protest meeting in front of police station and demanded release of the arrested.
Tarbha Tehsildar Prasanna Pande said Sangram has got the Tunki Dungri on lease since 2016. He has also obtained five-year mining agreement with the Government. Hence, his crosser can’t be closed.
Villagers have now demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter while reiterating early closer of the quarry.