Earth movers set ablaze at Palamu quarry

Daltonganj: Unidentified miscreants set ablaze three earth-movers and mining equipment at Dantuta stone quarry, barely 8km from Chhaterpur police station at Cheeru panchayat late on Wednesday. Police has ruled out the involvement of Maoists in the incident.
Palamu SP Indrajeet Mahatha said locals living in the vicinity have been opposing the quarry citing risks to their lives were involved in the arson. Barely 150 meters from the mine are villages whose residents claimed blasts at the quarry shake their houses and put their families at risk.

“No hand-written leaflets were found at the site. The arsonists did not raise slogans swearing allegiance to naxal outfits,” Mahatha said, quoting Chhaterpur sub-divisional police officer Shambhu K Singh.

Villagers sat on a dharna on Palamu collectorate premise a few months ago claiming quarry operations will contaminate water sources, pollute the area and affect commute to villages in its proximity. Soon after, the then Chhaterpur SDO Chhaterpur B Thakur and district mines officer M Toppo inspected the site but a solution to the villagers’ problems were not found.

Sources said the arson is a case of direct conflict of interest of villagers with the quarry owner identified as Anjani Singh. Residents of two villages Cheeru and Pattkhaiyee were most vocal against this mine.

Mahatha added: “This quarry has seen a few ugly scenes in the past where unidentified people had thrashed the staff here to make them run away from here.” Police was also informed that quarry workers had fired bullets in the air recently to scare the villagers.