Bhubaneswar, May 11: Agitators opposing the setting up of a steel plant by South Korean giant Posco today took hostage three Posco officials, who were visiting the project area to discuss land acquisition with villagers in Jagatsinghpur district.

One of them, a woman, was let off, while the two others had been kept hostage till late in the evening. Orissa Police sources said the district police were trying to negotiate their release with the agitators, who are protesting under the banner of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS).

Sources said Posco Kujang unit receptionist Rosalin Parida, local public relation officer Debashish Swain and corporate responsibility senior executive Choudhary Pranabananda Das had gone to Gobindpur village in a car at about 4.30 pm to initiate negotiation with the local villagers to part with their land for the project. Later, they were on their way to another village in the proposed site area, Dhinkia, when protesters surrounded them.

The anti-Posco activists have put up barricades and were not allowing outsiders into the three gram panchyats of Gadakujanga, Dhinkia and Nuagoan, the proposed site for Posco’s Rs 51,000 crore mega steel project near the port town of Paradip in Jagatsingpur district. Abhaya Sahu, leader of PPSS said that the three officials came in a car to Gobindpur village and were trying to convince the villagers to part with their land.

“They are safe. We are taking all steps to ensure their release,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (Central Range) S K Upadhyaya told The Indian Express this evening.

A meeting convened by the Prime Minister’s Office last month had decided that Posco would make direct contact with villages in the project area to acquire land for the project. After this, company officials had tried to approach some people in the area to work out a solution, sources said. The PPSS had warned Posco representatives against entering the area.

They had held a rally on April 28 against any move towards land acquisition. It is learnt that the protesters are demanding an assurance that Posco officials would not come to the area again. The PPSS is also reported to have asked for an undertaking that the plant would not be set up in the area.