The Banharpali police forwarded eight villagers to the SDJM Court and detained another on Saturday for further interrogation in torching of a Pollution Board vehicle by a mob on Friday at Tilia village under lakhanpur block of Jharsuguda district.
In protest, over 150 villagers held a demonstration in front of the Banharpali police station.
Notably, protesting against land acquisition by OPGC for construction of its third and fourth ash ponds, the residents of Tilia village had set a State Pollution Control Board vehicle on fire and manhandled officials who had visited the village for an assessment of the land acquisition on Friday.
Headed by Director of Union Environment and Forests Ministry Dr V P Upadhyay, the visiting team of officials included Jharsuguda Pollution Control Board unit head Chandrasekhar Chouhan, OPGC Director (Works) Alok Mukherjee, former OPGC Director Sukant Mohanty, besides other top officials of the OPGC like A Radhakrishnan and Pradip Patra.
Getting information about their presence, the villagers gathered on the spot and protested their visit. They set fire to a Bolero jeep (OR23B8308) after getting the driver and other officials out of the vehicle. The Bolero was completely gutted by the time Fire and Banharpalli police officials reached the site on a tipoff. The officials managed to escape in three other vehicles. However, a few sustained injuries while villagers tried to manhandle them and tried to snatch their mobile phones.
After lodging an FIR, the Banharpali police inquired into the case.
Notably, the OPGC is currently working on acquisition of a total 277 acres of private and 84 acres of Government land in Tilia mouza. Although 40 per cent of the acquisition is complete, many private land owners are vehemently protesting against the acquisition. Even, a tripartite meeting held in Kumbharpada Rajib Gandhi Seva Kendra on October 13 by the district administration failed to yield any result.