Overview
- At least eight people were injured, including police personnel, with Tamnar SDPO Anil Vishwakarma and SHO Kamla Pusam among those hurt.
- Protesters pelted stones and set a police bus, a jeep and an ambulance on fire, damaging additional government vehicles.
- The crowd forced entry into Jindal Power Limited’s coal handling plant at Libra’s CHP chowk, torching a conveyor belt and tractors and vandalising office premises.
- Residents from 14 villages have maintained a sit-in since December 12 against the Gare Pelma Sector-I coal block following a December 8 public hearing they call illegitimate.
- Officials say security has been tightened and efforts to identify instigators are underway, while Congress state chief Deepak Baij accuses the government of provoking villagers through forcible displacement.