Indian villagers release abducted POSCO officials
(Updates with release, details)
By Bappa Majumdar
KOLKATA, India, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Four officials from South Korean steelmaker POSCO (005490.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were released after six hours on Saturday by Indian villagers protesting against a planned $12 billion steel plant, police said.
The plant in Orissa state would be India's single largest foreign investment project, but has been delayed by protests. Villagers do not want to be forced from their land.
"They were released after we assured the villagers that the officials would not return to the area," Y.K. Jethwa, a senior police officer told Reuters from the eastern state of Orissa.
An inspection team led by a senior general manager of the company, South Korean K.S. Choi, and three other officials -- two Koreans and an Indian -- were abducted by at least 40 armed villagers in Orissa state's Dhinkia area, POSCO said.
"Our officials were outside the car and were inspecting the area, when the villagers surprised them," POSCO spokesman Shashanka Pattnaik said from the state capital, Bhubaneswar.
They were led along a muddy dirt road to a village, where they were made to sit in the square by villagers, armed with rods and sticks, witnesses said.
"We do not rule out some manhandling, as there was a huge mob present, but they were also served tea," Jethwa said by telephone.
The four officials were returning to Bhubaneswar and were not harmed physically, POSCO spokesman Pattnaik said.
In May this year, three Indian executives were abducted in the same area, but later freed following an assurance by POSCO that its staff would not visit the area again.
The state government and POSCO have said they are serious about pushing ahead with the project.
But villagers have erected barricades in the form of huge gates at several entry points to stop government and company officials from visiting the site.
The villagers say the proposed plant would displace 20,000 villagers from their homes and farms.
The government says 500 families would be affected and thousands of jobs created in a largely poor and undeveloped part of the country.
By Bappa Majumdar
KOLKATA, India, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Four officials from South Korean steelmaker POSCO (005490.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were released after six hours on Saturday by Indian villagers protesting against a planned $12 billion steel plant, police said.
The plant in Orissa state would be India's single largest foreign investment project, but has been delayed by protests. Villagers do not want to be forced from their land.
"They were released after we assured the villagers that the officials would not return to the area," Y.K. Jethwa, a senior police officer told Reuters from the eastern state of Orissa.
An inspection team led by a senior general manager of the company, South Korean K.S. Choi, and three other officials -- two Koreans and an Indian -- were abducted by at least 40 armed villagers in Orissa state's Dhinkia area, POSCO said.
"Our officials were outside the car and were inspecting the area, when the villagers surprised them," POSCO spokesman Shashanka Pattnaik said from the state capital, Bhubaneswar.
They were led along a muddy dirt road to a village, where they were made to sit in the square by villagers, armed with rods and sticks, witnesses said.
"We do not rule out some manhandling, as there was a huge mob present, but they were also served tea," Jethwa said by telephone.
The four officials were returning to Bhubaneswar and were not harmed physically, POSCO spokesman Pattnaik said.
In May this year, three Indian executives were abducted in the same area, but later freed following an assurance by POSCO that its staff would not visit the area again.
The state government and POSCO have said they are serious about pushing ahead with the project.
But villagers have erected barricades in the form of huge gates at several entry points to stop government and company officials from visiting the site.
The villagers say the proposed plant would displace 20,000 villagers from their homes and farms.
The government says 500 families would be affected and thousands of jobs created in a largely poor and undeveloped part of the country.
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