PARADIP: Four workers of a Bhubaneswar-based tent house returned home safe on Wednesday after being held hostage for over 12 hours at Dhinkia village. They were detained by Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS) activists, the previous night, who suspected them to be employees of Posco.
Sources said they were engaged by the company to erect a stage at Nuagaon panchayat for a seminar on ‘Engineering Service’ slated for Thursday. The driver of the mini-truck said locals at Nuagaon Chhak misguided them and they found themselves at Gobindpur village. They were then gheraoed by the anti-Posco activists and taken to Phulkhai temple in Dhinkia village.
Having enquired about the purpose of their visit, the PPSS activists let them off with a warning never to enter the Posco site again.
Confirming the incident, Posco Deputy General Manager, Kujang, Prasant Kumar Das expressed uncertainty over the seminar with the district administration yet to give its consent.
Meanwhile, villagers of Nuagaon have vowed to oppose the seminar over their six demands. The newly-elected sarpanch, Anjali Pradhan, has also sent a fax message to the Chief Secretary and the district collector seeking a stop on the seminar.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Paradip, Bijaya Sahu said no FIR had been lodged over the hostage issue. Earlier, the police had restricted entry of foreign nationals to Posco site apprehending law and order situation.