Odisha: Villagers protesting construction of steel plant allege ‘police brutality during siege’

Villagers of Dhinkia, Odisha protesting against the construction of a steel plant. | Picture: PUCL


According to civil liberties group People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Odisha the bone of contention between the people of Dhinkia and law enforcement agencies has been a bloody and long-drawn battle for the rights of their land amidst pressures to give it up for industrial purposes.

Ansab Amir | TwoCircles.net 


Support TwoCircles

ODISHA – Scores of villagers in Dhinkia, Odisha have alleged police brutality during a siege on their village, during which “several residents were beaten up and arrested.” The incident, as per villagers and civil liberties group People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Odisha, occurred on December 4 amidst warnings by the Odisha state administration instructing the residents Odisha to stay indoors to avoid the approaching cyclonic storm.

As per the villagers, the Jagatsinghpur district police of Odhisha lay siege to Dhinkia village on December 4, allegedly beating up and arresting villagers who were opposing the setting up of a Jindal Steel Works (JSW) Steel Plant in the area.

Villagers of Dhinkia, an area under Erasama Block in Odisha claim that on December 4, they were woken up by the noise of police cars and vehicles at 4:30 a.m. The villagers, who have a strained history with law enforcement regarded previous steel projects in the village, claimed that they resisted the police onslaught which resulted in a brawl. During the altercation, several people, including old women and children, were injured, the villagers said. The police also reported injuries to some of its personnel.

The villagers alleged that after the unrest the police forces blocked entrances to the village, hindering their liberty and livelihood, and threatened them with arrests.

“The bone of contention between the people of Dhinkia and law enforcement agencies has been a bloody and long-drawn battle for the rights of their land amidst pressures to give it up for industrial purposes,” Pramodini Pradhan, a member of PUCL, told TwoCircles.net. 

PUCL conducted a fact-finding exercise on December 8 after receiving preliminary reports from the local people about the “siege of Dhinkia village by the police, disruption of daily lives and livelihood and fear of arrest.”

In this case, the industrial purpose was being served of Jindal Steel Works (JSW) Ltd. 

The villagers are protesting the establishment of a 13.2 million tonne per annum (MPTA) capacity integrated steel project by Sajjan Jindal’s JSW Utkal Steel Limited on property previously purchased by the South Korean steel giant POSCO. A 900-MW captive power plant and a 10-MPTA cement factory are also proposed for the Jagatsinghpur district, near the villages of Dhinkia, Govindpur, Nuagaon, Bayanala Kanda, Polanga, and Jatadhar.

Notably, POSCO was forced to withdraw from its proposed steel plant in the area due to continued public protests during 2005 and 2017, and during which thousands of villagers were booked under several charges, including charges of “murder and kidnapping.” 

According to the villagers, following POSCO’s exit, the Odisha government placed the forcefully obtained land in the Land Bank without releasing it to the residents. The same plot of land was then given to Jindal Steel Works Ltd. (JSW) for the construction of an integrated steel plant, a captive power plant, and a cement factory. When the Odisha State Pollution Control Board held the necessary public hearing on December 20, 2019, protests erupted against the proposed JSW project. Ever since the aggrieved villagers have continued their protests. 

Between August and November 2021, the district administration launched a series of actions, including a new notification for further land acquisition, hearings at different Panchayat headquarters to ascertain people’s grievances about the JSW project, and the trifurcation of Dhinkia revenue village. These, as per villagers and PUCL, were conducted amidst heavy police presence. Local residents objected to this. During public hearings, the local villagers expressed resentment and spoke of “an atmosphere of fear being created by the local administration.”

“The villagers knew about us due to our advocacy during the previous agitations and reached out to us, complaining of violations of their human rights and access to livelihood,” Pramodini said. 

As part of a six-member team consisting of PUCL members, social activists and one lawyer, Pramodini set off for the village on December 8. The team met several women and villagers of Dhinkia, village heads of Patana and Govindpur, anti-Jindal activists and Dalit community of Mathasahi hamlet under Nuagaon village, who she said, “had been injured or affected by a police siege following an altercation.”

As per multiple FIRs accessed by TwoCircles.net, the altercation occurred when a complainant Pravat Rout from village Govindpur, alleged that some people including Debendra Swain of village Dhinkia hurled bombs at around 2.00 a.m. on December 4. The sub-inspector, Ashutosh Hota, and other police officers went to the location where the explosives were allegedly thrown. Around 3.20 a.m., the police team was delayed on the way near the Dhinkia Panchayat Office by nearly thirty individuals, including Debendra Swain, and one service pistol was seized from them, according to one of the FIRs. Following this, the police intensified their presence and went to Debendra Swain’s residence. The third FIR filed by the police on the same day states that the locals were “already prepared and attacked the cops as soon as they arrived in Dhinkia village.”

According to Dhinkia villagers, the claims of throwing a bomb and stealing a firearm are “baseless and false as part of a plan to silence the people’s anti-Jindal sentiments.” 

Prasant Paikray, a local leader and a vocal member of the people’s movement told TwoCircles.net that the government had not disclosed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between them and the Jindal group, “just as they had not done so in the case of POSCO.”

“They had no consultation with the affected people, the group acquired no environmental permits, and then they used false cases to initiate violence against local villagers, as they had done in the past,” he said. “They targeted Debendra Swain because he was standing up for the people’s rights to their land. The people cannot give up on their livelihood and their land, to either corporates or governments, and that is why the police are instigating violence by hook-or-crook to forcefully acquire the locals’ land.”

According to the villagers, the cops arrived in the area in three vans and two SUV’s (Boleros). As word spread that the police were attempting to break down the door of Debendra Swain’s residence, who is a popular leader and an important voice in the agitation against capitalist take-over, men and women gathered and attempted to prevent the police from entering. 

“Some women sat at the feet of police officers, pleading with them not to break down the door. However, police officers apprehended them and brutally beat them up. According to the SP’s statement, 11 police officers were injured by members of the public, and the cops did not even slap anybody. However, the PUCL fact-finding team witnessed with their own eyes that dozens of women and locals were injured and wore bandages. There was an old woman called Santi Das whose wounds I saw myself,” Pramodini told TwoCircles.net.

“Following this incident, about 500 people from Dhinkia, Mahal, Patana, and Govindpur joined a protest demonstration despite rain in the morning. Dhinkia villagers, on the other hand, have been charged under different sections of the IPC in two FIRs filed by the police (395/147/148/341/332/333/353/307/ 427/294/379/506/186/149). In the first FIR, 16 people were booked by name, along with 15-20 ‘others,’ and in the second, 60 persons were booked by name, along with 100 ‘others.’ This indicates that police have the authority to arrest anyone who is not identified in the FIR. According to Dhinkia residents, police have even arrested persons who were not present in the village on that particular day,” a press release from PUCL stated.

Pramodini said that they (PUCL) got access to a video clip of a news conference held by the Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police on the same day of the assault. “He stated that the original complainant Pravat Rout, was helping the police in its proceedings,” she said. 

Following the incident, police were stationed at three access points to the village namely Trilochanpur, Patana, and Mahala. 

The villagers said that when they have to leave the hamlet, they are being asked to show their Aadhar Card at multiple entrance points. 

The local people, who are mostly dependant on rural agricultural practices for their livelihood, are unable to access their farms or betel vines.

The villagers expressed fear that “they are under assault in their own village.” They suspect that the police has prepared a list of names of those to be arrested at each police picket. “There were multiple accounts of residents of nearby villages being hounded and humiliated by the authorities in nearby villages even as people are living amidst fear,” Pramodini said.

Ansab Amir is an intern with TwoCircles.net. He tweets at @ansab_amir.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HERE