Sirkakulam, February 26: Village of Odditandra became a war zone on Friday with police opening fire into the air and fighting a heated battle with farmers and fisherfolk protesting against the super thermal power project being developed in the area.
Facing a hail of stones, cops fired rubber bullets at an angry crowd, demolished the hunger-strike camp at the project site, dragged people out of their homes and beat them up on the streets.
This is the second time that police has clashed with the farmers in the area over the power project being developed by a consortium of East Coast Energy Private Limited. Last year, two persons were killed in police firing on farmers and fisherfolk in Sompeta.
This time, four persons sustained serious injuries in the lathi-charge and several sustained minor injuries from rubber bullets used by the police. Eight police personnel including the circle inspector of Srikakulam town, Mr K. Prasad, were injured in the stone pelting.
Friday’s incident began when the fisherfolk tried to stop project vehicles passing with a heavy police escort through Odditandra village. Police initially thrashed the protesters with lathis and then used tear-gas to disperse them. But as the crowd gathered strength, cops opened fire in the air. This enraged the crowd which began pelting stones.
–Agencies