Rayagada: Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) were clamped at Sagabari village under Kashipur block in Odisha’s Rayagada district following a tense confrontation early Tuesday morning in which several policemen, including senior officers, were injured while managing protests against a road construction project.
According to sources, villagers, primarily tribals, have long opposed the project, intended to improve access to the proposed Sijimali bauxite mining area, fearing it would destroy their land, forests, and traditional livelihoods in the ecologically sensitive region. The work had begun the previous day after Rayagada Collector Kulkarni Ashutosh C visited the site and convinced the villagers while requesting their cooperation. However, the protestors resumed their agitation this morning, blocking work on a roughly 3-km road stretch from Purlang to Sagabari Ghat.
The situation escalated rapidly when protesters allegedly attacked police and the district administration officials with stones, swords, axes, and other sharp weapons to stop the road construction. Following which, police used tear gas to disperse them. “Of the 40 police personnel injured in the incident, 10 have sustained injuries to the head and have been admitted to the district headquarters hospital at Rayagada. The protestors pelted stones and bricks and attacked the police when they attempted to pacify them,” PTI quoted ADG Sanjay Kumar as saying.
Among those hurt were Rayagada SDPO Gaurishankar Sahu, Kashipur Inspector-in-Charge Deb Mallick, and the Andirakanch police IIC.
Rayagada SP Swathi S Kumar has reached the site, to take stock of the situation. Around six platoons of police force have been deployed to maintain law and order.
This incident is the latest flashpoint in the ongoing resistance against the proposed Sijimali bauxite mining project, which spans parts of Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. The locals in the Kashipur area have been opposing it ever since the state government handed it over to a private company.
