By IANS,
Panaji : Nearly 100 pro-mining demonstrators were arrested after a scuffle with the police as the protesters called a day-long strike against a possible ban on export of iron ore from the state.
The strike called by associations promoting mining and backed by the powerful mining lobby, however, was a damp squib as the protests did not affect normalcy, bar a couple of minor incidents.
A police spokesperson said 100 people were arrested and six policemen received minor injuries during the scuffle near the Panaji municipal market, in close proximity to the venue of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Police even resorted to baton charge to disperse the demonstrators.
Earlier, dozens of iron ore-carrying barges choked the Mandovi river navigation channel as a mark of protest.
The strike marks the high point of a consistent campaign by the mining lobby to create public pressure on the government to desist from a ban on export of iron ore.
The fear of a possible ban on export of iron ore stems from the expose of a mega illegal mining scam, which the opposition has pegged at Rs.25,000 crore.