Odisha's Dhinkia villagers get political support

JAGATSINGHPUR: Leaders of various political parties including Congress and CPI visited Dhinkia on Wednesday to extend their solidarity with the villagers fighting for land and livelihood protection for more than a decade now.

Congress leader and former MLA Lalatendu Mohapatra and CPI leader Nityananda Swain visited the village separately on the day and assured villagers of all support in breaking the alleged nexus between the administration and JSW. They further criticised the police attempt to arrest panchayat member and Jindal Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (JPSS) leader Debendra Swain on false charges and unnecessary harassment of locals to dilute the anti-displacement movement.

Meanwhile, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department removed Swain from his post on the day. This was carried out under Section 40 of Odisha Panchayat Samiti Act, 1959 for wilful abuse of power against government officials based on the report received from former Jagatsinghpur Collector SK Mohapatra. 

On August 18, Swain along with 200 other people allegedly abused Erasama tehsildar C Pragyananda Das, BDO Kailash Behera and Dhinkia sarpanch Kishore Behera when they, along with police officials, were returning from newly-created revenue village of Patana for implementation of development work.