Posco, IDCO officials held hostage

PARADIP: Villagers of Noliasahi under Gadakujang panchayat held a Posco official and an IDCO official hostage on Thursday for allegedly cutting trees without the permission of the district administration. It is being further alleged that the officials paid the villagers less compensation. Following the Wednesday agitation by Posco supporters at Nuagaon and Gadakujang panchayats, the administration had reportedly stopped work to prevent any untoward incident.The villagers alleged that Posco pressed their officials to fell trees without the knowledge of the administration. They convinced some villagers of Noliasahi to let them cut their trees. However, instead of ` 1.82 lakh, they paid one Fakir Behera only ` 82,000. “The irate villagers snatched the fuel meant for cutting machines and motorcycle of the Posco official. They were held hostage for nearly four hours,” said  Gadakujang Sarpanch                  Nakula Sahu.  Kujang Tehsildar Basudev Pradhan rushed to the spot and pacified the villagers. He also assured them that Posco officials would not be involved in felling of trees and evaluation towards disbursement of compensation following which the irate villagers released the two officials in the afternoon.The situation is tense but under control after the intervention of the district administration official, said Sahu.Project Director (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) Surjeet Das said the administration had stopped Posco work due to stiff opposition from the villagers. Efforts are on to convince the villagers to cooperate with our officials, he added.