One person died and at least 20 others were injured in a clash between Odisha Industrial Security Force personnel and protestors at the Vedanta Alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on Monday, The Hindu reported.
One security personnel also died in the clash, reported BloombergQuint quoting Vedanta. Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were imposed outside the refinery following the clash, reported Odisha TV.
Villagers had staged a protest in front of the refinery demanding jobs for locals, reported Odisha TV. Many protestors were reportedly displaced by Vedanta’s project. A clash broke out when personnel of the Odisha Industrial Security Force tried to shift the protestors from the main gate.
“The local Odisha Industrial Security Force personnel, who intervened were attacked by the protesters during which some protesters and OISF personnel got injured,” Vedanta said in a statement to Reuters. The Odisha Industrial Security Force is under the command of the Odisha Police.
Vedanta said as per an update from the hospital, a protestor died after suffering injuries in the clash. The protestor was identified as 45-year-old Dani Batra.
Social activist Meera Sanghamitra told Scroll.in that residents of Lanjigarh were protesting outside Vedanta’s refinery with Batra’s body. Batra was from the Khambesi village in Niyamgiri hills and has a wife and three children.
The protests come less than a year after 13 protestors in Tamil Nadu were killed in police firing during protests against Sterlite Copper, a subsidiary of Vedanta. The plant in Thoothukudi was shut down following protests. The Supreme Court in February refused to allow the reopening of the Sterlite plant, setting aside an order of the National Green Tribunal
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