Ratnagiri:The ongoing protest at Barsu intensified today as clashes broke out between the police and the protestors over survey of the petrochemical refinery project in Ratnagiri. Opposing soil testing of the project, the protestors demanded that the survey should be stopped. A huge police force was deployed in the area. In order to bring the situation under control, police allegedly threw tear gas canisters at the protestors and also reportedly hit them with sticks.
Meanwhile Vinayak Raut, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP from Sindhudurg was detained at Barsu after he joined the protestors. Tension ensued in the area following this. Earlier, when Raut was on his way to meet the protesters, he was stopped by the police from entering Barsu. Raut sat on the road as a mark of protest against the police. Finally he was allowed entry by the police.
Police said the protesters have gathered in Barsu and were agitating for the last four days. They were asked to move out from the site and return to their homes, said police. Locals on the other hand alleged that the police were evicting them forcibly. Police even used sticks and tear gas when people refused to move from the site, a local said.
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Taking to Twitter, Raut said that the soil survey for the refinery began on Tuesday. Hundreds of locals gathered at the site to oppose it since Monday, he wrote. When he and his supporters were going there to meet the protesters they were stopped by the police and only allowed after they sat on road in protest, he posted. At least 111 protestors were arrested by the police on Tuesday for protesting against the refinery. On Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut had apprehended that a Jallianwala Bagh massacre may occur in Barsu in view of the ongoing protests. He had said that they will always stand by the protestors.
