Attempt to arrest anti-displacement Odisha activist in early hours decried
The Hindu
Debendra Swain is spearheading a movement against Odisha’s largest greenfield steel project in Dhinkia
Activists expressed concern over attempts by the Odisha police to arrest an anti-displacement campaigner from a coastal village in Jagatsinghpur district, which is bracing for cyclone Jawad, on Saturday.
Police teams in the early hours of Saturday knocked on the doors of Debendra Swain, an elected member to a panchayati raj institution who is against Odisha’s largest greenfield steel project proposed in the vicinity of his village, Dhinkia.
“Police came to arrest me from my Dhinkia home around 3.30 a.m. When we did not open the door, they tried to break it open. This was when all our fellow villagers woke up and confronted the police,” Mr. Swain said.