ODISHA: DISPLACED TRIBAL ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR PROTESTS, SLAPPED WITH MURDER CHARGES [https://thewire.in/government/odisha-displaced-tribal-activists-arrested-for-protests-slapped-with-murder-charges]
The police state that the arrests were made as the group illegally obstructed the construction of a road overbridge at the Kukuda gate in Bisra.
However, a statement released in the support of activists claims that the arrests have been made to threaten and forcefully take over the tribals’ land. “There is an attempt by the Odisha Government and Railway Authority to threaten the Adivasis with deployment of heavy police force to forcibly take possession of our lands,” the statement reads. “The land, about 4,000 acres in and around Bondamunda, was purportedly acquired in the years 1956-64 for setting up (a) marshalling yard in Bondamunda under the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act 1894.”