BIJAPUR / BELGAUM: Two farmers sustained bullet injuries when police opened fire to disperse people protesting against the setting up of a thermal power project by National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) at Kudgi, near here on Saturday.
According to officiAal sources, more than 10 people, including four policemen sustained injuries in the incident.
The two farmers, identified as Chandrappa Pujari and Sadashiv Ganachari, have been shifted to the KLES Hospital in Belgaum for further treatment. The other injured have been admitted to the district hospital in Bijapur.
According to Deputy Commissioner D Randeep the trouble started when thousands of agitators assembled near the plant area at 9 am.
After lathi charge went futile to control the agitators, police opened fire in the air to disperse them. People were protesting against the plant as water from the Almatti reservoir will be used by the plant.
Prohibitory Orders under 144 CrPc have been clamped around the plant area for two days (Saturday and Sunday).
The SP and the DC visited the spot. According to sources, protestors set fire to a few vehicles and some few sheds on the premises of the plant. It can be recalled here that there were mild protests against the plant last week.
Rubbishing official claims that only 10 were injured in the incident, people alleged that the number of injured was between 20 and 30, including several women.