Bombs kill Posco protesters in India

At least three people protesting plans for a $12 billion project by Korean steelmaker Posco in southeastern India were killed by crude bombs on Saturday, police said.

Police said those killed in the village of Patna in Odisha state were probably making the bombs themselves, but a protest group spokesman said the dead activists were victims of an attack by supporters of the steel project.

“We strongly condemn this barbaric and inhuman killing of innocent villagers and strongly demand the arrest of the culprits immediately,” said Prashant Paikary, a Posco spokesman.

Another protester was critically injured, police said.

Posco, the world’s fifth-biggest steelmaker by output, signed a pact with the state government in 2005 for a plant with a capacity of 12 million metric tons a year on 1,600 hectares (4,000 acres) of land.

Odisha, formerly called Orissa, has acquired half the land necessary for the project despite local protests.

The latest incident came days after media reports the government might resume taking land from farmers in a few days.

“We are trying to proceed in a peaceful manner. We do not want violence in the area” said a senior Posco official, who did not want to be named.

Reuters