Villagers in Barwahtaand talk to company officials on Friday. Picture by Pankaj Singh

Bokaro, Oct. 24: Hundreds of local villagers came out in support of the upcoming plant of Bokaro Jaypee Cement Limited Associates here today as the police displayed remarkable promptness in arresting 12 people for yesterday’s arson at the project site.

Surprisingly, as the 12 were being sent to Chas jail, former minister Samresh Singh landed up at the company’s camp office and asked senior general manager A.K. Sharma to withdraw their FIR against them in the presence of the SDO of Chas (Bokaro) K.N Jha. But Sharma refused.

At the time, the villagers who had gathered at the site began shouting slogans against the former minister and vowed to help the company continue with the project which they believed would provide jobs to as many as 5,000 people in future.

To show their support, local villagers organised food for the Jaypee Cement staff who were busy salvaging whatever they could after yesterday’s attack that destroyed the godown, kitchen, a company car and several equipment.

They have also gathered around 100 men from nearby villages to join the police, whose numbers have been beefed up today, to stand guard at the plant site.

Company officials said they were overwhelmed by the support from local villagers but added they were yet to decide when to resume work. “We are overwhelmed by the love and affection shown by the locals residents. The district administration and police also acted quickly to bring the situation under control,” Sharma told The Telegraph after around 100 people met him with a request to begin work immediately.

B.Besra, who is the head of Vishthapit Sanyukta Morcha, the group that has organised the men to guard the site, said, “Samresh Singh and another former minister hatched the conspiracy to attack the project site Wednesday night at Barwahtaand village, a kilometre away.”

Besra said they would not allow any politician to lead an agitation against the cement plant management — a joint venture between Jayprakash Associates and Bokaro Steel — for their “selfish needs” and vitiate the atmosphere.

He alleged a few tribal women and teenagers were bribed and eventually became a pawn in their gameplan. “These politicians are not interested in the development of the area and are trying to ruin the future of the youth just like what happened at Singur in Bengal,” Besra rued.

Those arrested were identified as Bheem Murmu, Binod Manjhi, Birsa Manjhi, Nunuchand Majhi, Udai Manjhi, Kalicharan Majhi, Budheshwar Manjhi, B. Murmu, Dashrath Manjhi, Manoj Manjhi and two others against whom the FIR was lodged.

Bokaro SP Priya Dubey has stepped up police presence at the plant site and has ordered officer in-charge C.M. Singh to ensure round-the-clock vigil at the site.

Bokaro Chamber of Commerce said industry-starved Jharkhand needed a congenial atmosphere if the state was to prosper.