Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Days after WikiLeaks cables talked of Essar Group paying a significant amount to Naxals in Chhattisgarh as protection money,a civil contractor reportedly working for the group was arrested with an alleged Naxal from Palnar,Dantewada.
The contractor,B K Lala,was arrested along with alleged Naxal Lingaram Kodappi yesterday noon.
Dantewada SP Ankit Garg said,We got a tip-off that Lala was carrying an amount to be delievered to Naxals. We laid a trap and arrested him with Kodappi.
Garg told The Sunday Express that Lala had told them he was carrying Rs 15 lakh on behalf of Essar Group to be handed over to Naxals. We are verifying his claim.
Essar has a pipeline project in Dantewada to transport NMDCs blue dust to Visakhapatnam. Asked about the charges,an Essar spokesperson said: We are a law-abiding corporate. We dont think it is appropriate or necessary to react to such allegations. The spokesperson refused to answer questions on whether Lala worked for the group.
According to the police,Kodappi was the mastermind of the attack on Congress leader Awdhesh Singh Gautams Dantewada home in July 2010. He had later surfaced in Delhi at a press conference along with Swami Agnivesh.
Asked about Kodappis arrest,Agnivesh told The Sunday Express: I know him as a student of journalism. He is a simple tribal youth. I have no information of his links with Naxals. Once again,he is being framed.
