Overview
- A 15‑day sit‑in by residents from 14 villages opposing the Gare Pelma Sector‑I coal block escalated on Saturday in Tamnar, Raigarh.
- Police moved in to clear a road blockade in the morning and around 35–40 protesters were reportedly detained as the crowd later swelled to roughly 1,000.
- Vehicles were set ablaze, including a police bus, a jeep and an ambulance, and protesters forced entry into Jindal’s coal handling plant, torching a conveyor belt and tractors and vandalising offices.
- Several police personnel were injured, among them SDPO Anil Vishwakarma and SHO Kamla Pusam, who was assaulted in an incident captured in widely shared videos.
- Senior officials said over 200 personnel were deployed with movement curbs in place, coal traffic began to slowly resume, and an activist claim that a coal vehicle struck a villager remained unconfirmed.