5 policemen including DSP injured in stone pelting by villagers at Jharkhand's Bokaro

The residents of Jharkhand's Dhangarhi village turned angry and pelted stones at the police when a pre-dawn operation was launched on Thursday to clear debris under the railway line doubling works. The residents were upset that the authorities were not resolving their issues regarding payment of full compensation towards lands taken from them for the railway project.

Bokaro (Jharkhand) : Over five policemen including a DSP were injured in stone pelting unleashed by the residents of Jharkhand's Dhangarhi village who were unhappy over non-payment of compensation towards land acquired for railway line doubling. The injured policemen including the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) were given treatment immediately.

Under the Bokaro-Talwadia line doubling, encroachment was removed 173 days ago in Dhangarhi village but the debris was lying there uncleared. On Wednesday early morning, when the residents of Bokaro Steel City were asleep, the district and railway administration reached the spot at 4 am and started the work of removing the debris.

Then, the villagers gathered there and started opposing it. Stone pelting was started in which Hamal police station in-charge Santosh Kumar, City DSP Kuldeep Kumar and three other policemen were injured. After the incident of stone pelting by the villagers, the police used rubber bullets and released tear gas shells.

Apart from DC Kuldeep Chaudhary SP Chandan Kumar Jha Headquarters DSP Mukesh Kumar, City DSP Kuldeep Kumar, Residential Magistrate Manisha Vats, DTO Sanjeev Kumar, and Inspectors of almost all the police stations of Bokaro are deployed in large numbers.

As per reports, the land related to doubling the line at Bokaro has been transferred to the Railways, while the villagers say that they have not yet been given the full amount of compensation, nor has the initiative for planning and rehabilitation been taken by the Bokaro Steel Management. The residents were unwilling to allow the Railways to go ahead with the project.

The villagers of Dhangarhi were protesting at the place of encroachment for 173 days. The villagers say that their lands were taken but a plan for rehabilitation had not been given to them. They asserted that the land belonged to them and that the railway administration cannot take away this land forcibly from their possession.