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KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, Oct 13: Four employees of POSCO-India,
the Indian arm of South Korean steelmaker
POSCO, were taken hostage by the villagers
opposing the setting up of the proposed
12 million tonne per annum capacity steel
plant in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district
on Saturday.
The four men - three Korean nationals and
one Indian - were taken hostage at around
10 am when they were trying to reach Jatadhari
river mouth where POSCO is planning to establish
a captive port near the proposed steel plant
site.
President of POSCO Pratirodh Sangam Samiti
Abhay Sahu said that they would not release
the four men of POSCO-India until they give
in writing that the company would not set
up its plant in the area spread over three
gram panchayats - Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gadakujang
- in Jagatsinghpur district.
The four employees who have been taken
hostage by the villagers have been identified
as K.S. Choi and S.H. Nam, both senior General
Managers, T.J. Ahn, General Manager ad Deepak
Ojha, Assistant Manager.
Sahu blamed the district administration
for not preventing the company men from
entering the area when the villagers were
opposing the steel project as well as the
captive port project tooth and nail.
The four officials of POSCO were kept at
Gadakujang village, Sahu said.
Sahu's organisation, which is backed by
the Communist Party of India (CPI), has
been opposing the steel project since the
company signed a memorandum of understanding
with Orissa Government in 2005 to set up
the steel mill with an investment of Rs.
51,000 crore, the biggest ever foreign direct
investment in India.
Reacting to the development, spokesman
of POSCO-India in Bhubaneswar Sashanka Patnaik
said that they had informed the police as
well as the Jagatsinghpur district administration
to intervene in the matter to secure the
release of the four men.
"We are hopeful that good sense will
prevail among those opposing the project
and they would release our employees,"
Patnaik said.
Those protesting the steel project had
also been confined two officials of POSCO
in the project area on Friday by sealing
the entry points after their entry.
The two officials - Ardhendu Mohapatra and
Basant Jena who worked in POSCO's local
office at Gadakujang - had managed to escape
during night time.
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