Paradip, June 13: Activists of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti from Dhinkia gram panchayat staged a protest outside the police camp in Patana village, demanding immediate withdrawal of troops.

The land acquisition project has again been put on hold in the face of fresh agitation.

“We picketed peacefully outside the police camp. We want the withdrawal of police from the village. As Patana and Dhinkia villages have been excluded from the project, there is no justification for their presence here,” said anti-Posco leader Prakash Jena.

Though land acquisition and other project-related work have been put on hold, police are still deployed at strife-torn Gobindpur village because of recurring breach of law and order.

“The resistance movement against the Posco project is still vigorous. The government has made a mockery of the peaceful industrialisation drive by forcefully acquiring land in Gobindpur. People here have vowed to fight till the government relocated it. They are ready to make supreme sacrifice to protect their land and livelihood sources,” said Sisir Kumar Mahapatra, general secretary of the samiti.

He said the land acquisition process would face stiff resistance in the coming days.

The government and company officials would be stopped from entering the project villages as people, including women, had resolved to put up a human barricade.

“The cops have kept close vigil on the agitation. The police camp at Gobindpur will continue to operate. The question of withdrawing forces does not arise as the people have sought police protection stating that anti-Posco activists have unleashed terror on them,” said Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

“At a time when the administration has suspended land acquisition and project-related work, such protests do not carry any weight. However, the agitators do have their democratic right to protest in a peaceful manner,” said Jagatsinghpur collector Satya Kumar Mallick.