Bhubaneswar, May 16: Amidst claims by Orissa government that it had cleared the road connecting the proposed POSCO plant site near Paradip, anti-project activists today accused police of setting fire to their tents and mercilessly beating up elderly women and children.
“The police personnel set fire to our tents where we were holding democratic agitation against the South Korean steel company’s proposed mega plant since January 26,” POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti’s (PPSS) women’s wing head Manorama Khatua said.
“It is generally anti-socials who set fire on houses.
But here, police did the job of anti-socials,” she said, adding elderly women and children were beaten yesterday without any provocation.
Senior police officials have, however, denied the charge.
“We do not know who set the tent on fire.
–PTI