Activists detain Posco officials to protest project plant location

Activists of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) yesterday held four officials of the South Korean steel major hostage for over seven hours in Patana village near Paradip in Orissa.

Arun Mohapatra, Debasis Mohapatra, Prasant Rout and Nihar Das Mohapatra, were held captive by irate villagers when they entered the village. The four were then taken to the local Shiva temple premises where they were detained.

The activists demanded that the government announce that no construction would be undertaken in their village in exchange for the release of the four officials.

However, in the evening the activists freed the officials after they gave a written undertaking that they would never return to Patana again, which happens to be part of the company's 12-million-tonne integrated steel project site.

According to Posco India general manager Simanta Mohanty, its officials were on a routine visit to interact with the people and communities.

Speaking to Business Standard, he added that he did not expect the incident to be repeated and said he expected to receive support from the local community.