Police, civilians injured in clash during anti-encroachment drive

Bokaro: Several displaced persons and policemen were injured in a clash during the anti-encroachment drive conducted by the Bokaro district administration in Dhangarhi under Harla police station on Wednesday morning. Protesters threw stones at the police, who retaliated with lathi charges, rubber bullets and tear gas.
A police team is camping on the spot to keep watch over the situation. Bokaro deputy commissioner Kuldeep Chaudhary along with other administrative and police officials led the drive. More than six policemen, including the officer in-charge of Harla police station, Santosh Kumar, suffered injuries in the stone-pelting. About a dozen protesters also suffered injuries in rubber-bullet firing and lathicharge by cops.
The work of doubling the railway line between Tupkadih and Talgadiya under Adra railway division is going on for the past three years. Nearly 95% of the work has also been completed. On September 24 last year, the district administration with the railway demolished 16 houses and cleared the way for the railway line. Since then, the people of the village were continuously protesting at the site. Whenever the railway personnel arrived to remove debris, villagers strongly put up a resistance, demanding rehabilitation and compensation.
Wednesday was the 172nd day of dharna by the affected families when the police team reached the spot to evict them. Chas’s sub-divisional officer (SDO) Dilip Singh Shekhawat said, “We applied light force to remove the protesters to which they put up a resistance. But later, the situation normalised and the railway line doubling work resumed.”
A villager of Dhangadi, Riyajuddin Ansari, said, “Our day began with sounds of bulldozers. We found heavy police deployment in the village. They began to remove our tents and temporary shelters after demolishing our houses earlier. Police also beat the villagers and fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Many are injured. We were not against development, but we demand proper rehabilitation.”
The land was originally acquired for Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) several decades back. Later, BSL transferred 31 acres to the railways for this project.