UAC representatives at Kujang police station. Telegraph picture

Paradip, July 11: A day after Maoists issued threat letters, the United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco outfit, today sought security cover from authorities.

The outfit’s acting president, Dhirendra Pallai, one of the recipients of the threat letter, lodged an FIR today with Kujang police station.

“UAC activists are feeling unsafe. Through the FIR, security cover has been sought for those in the forefront of the organisation. Apart from Pallai, member of the Nuagaon Panchayat Samity Soumendra Nayak, sarpanch of the Gadakujang gram panchayat Nakul Sahu and UAC member Jiban Lal Behera have also received threat letters,” said Nirvay Samantaray, general secretary of the UAC.

The district police have already begun a probe into the incident following the registration of the FIR.

“Preliminary investigation has been launched to ascertain the genuineness of the letters. We have sought assistance of handwriting experts from the state police headquarters,” said Shantanu Kumar Das, sub-divisional police officer, Paradip.

“The threat could be real. We cannot rule out any possibilities at the moment. The police are keeping a tab on the movement of outsiders who are making their way into the proposed steel project area,” said Das.

A case under sections 506 (criminal intimidation) anad 507 (criminal intimidation by an anonymous communication) has been registered.

On March 7, Maoist posters were found stuck in a number of public places in Erasama block. The contents of the posters were more or less similar to those received by the UAC office bearers and panchayati raj institution representatives.

Though there are no reports of Maoists’ infiltration into the Posco project area, Erasama block, under which the mega steel venture is located, had become a safe hideout for suspected Maoists in the past.

Maoist leader Dushmanta alias Mangu Biswal, who is in custody, hailed from this region. Following his arrest, the police had unearthed the Maoist’s network and its linkage to Erasama in September 2008. At least eight active Maoist cadres were subsequently arrested then by the district police.

In a related development, brushing aside protests, the project-related work continued today in Nuagaon and Noliasahi areas. On Friday, five personnel of state-run Industrial Development Corporation and Posco were detained by people in Nuagaon to register their protest against the felling of forest trees.

There was a show of protest again in the Nuagaon area. As a result, the exercise of felling forest trees was suspended.

“We pulled down the fruit-bearing trees today. No forest species trees were cut down. Besides, the measurement of earthen platform of razed betel vineyards was conducted. Side by side, the civil works such as boundary wall construction and sand-filling for the proposed rehabilitation colony were carried out near Polang-Noliasahi areas. But the works were done today in a limited scale because of inadequate police deployment due to the bahuda yatra of Lord Jagannath today,” said Nrusingha Charan Swain, special land acquisition officer.