Thaindian News

Bhubaneswar, Aug 20 (IANS) Anti-Posco leader Abhaya Sahu, who was arrested in October last year for his alleged involvement in several crimes, was granted bail by the Orissa High Court Thursday, a lawyer said.
Police had slapped at least 36 criminal cases against Sahu. While he got bail earlier in 35 cases in different courts, the high court at Cuttack granted bail in the last case, defence lawyer Jagannath Patnaik told IANS.

“The bench of Justice Raghunath Biswal granted him bail,” he said.

Sahu, president of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) which is spearheading a movement against a steel plant in the state by South Korean major Posco, is currently in judicial custody. He is likely to be released Friday.

Posco, one of the world’s biggest steel makers, signed a deal with the Orissa government in June 2005 to set up a $12 billion plant near the port town of Paradeep in the coastal district of Jagatsinghpur, some 100 km from here, by 2016.

There has been no significant progress since then in the project, the largest foreign direct investment in India, due to local opposition.

Over 20,000 people from around 15 villages, including Dhinkia, Gada Kujanga and Nuagaon, are protesting the project, saying it will displace them and ruin their betel leaf farming. Posco, however, says the proposed plant would affect only 500 families but create thousands of jobs instead.

Police say Sahu was accused of committing several crimes including dacoity, robbery, attack on government officials and properties. However, human rights activists describe the allegations against him as false and allege he was framed for opposing the Posco project.