Bhubaneswar, Oct. 13: Anti-Posco movement leader Abhaya Sahu, who was arrested near Paradip last night, was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days today while his sudden arrest evoked protest among his supporters.

Sahu was lodged in a local jail after he was produced before the first class judicial magistrate at Kujanga near Paradip. But he was later shifted to Choudwar circle jail near Cuttack, apprehending law and order problem in the locality.

Palpable tension prevails in the three gram panchayats under the Kujanga police station area, as the supporters of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti expressing their anger over Sahu’s arrest.

The samiti and CPI today staged a road blockade in Ersama area, the proposed site for the 12MTPA steel plant to be set up by the South Korean steel maker, for one hour in protest against Sahu’s arrest, Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police R.K. Sharma said. However, there was no reaction in rest of the areas in the district.

Sahu was arrested from Bhutmundai, 15km from Paradip, last night in connection with over 80 criminal cases with charges ranging from rioting and arson to abduction of foreign nationals and detaining government officials, the police said. He was arrested on his way back to Dhinkia village, the epicentre of the anti-Posco agitation.

Sahu, who founded the samiti, had been spearheading the anti-Posco movement for the past three years ever since an MoU was signed between the state government and the South Korean steel maker in June 2005 for setting up the mega steel plant in the area.

Dubbing his arrest as “undemocratic”, CPI state secretary Dibakar Nayak alleged that Sahu was picked up while returning home after a medical check-up. Demanding Sahu’s release, Nayak threatened that his party would organise agitation across Orissa.