Clash in Chhattisgarh: Six Policemen Injured as Villagers Protest Coal Mining Survey

At least six police personnel, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, were injured in a clash with villagers in Chhattisgarh's Surajpur district on Friday. The incident occurred in the Dharampur-Madannagar villages, where a police team had gone to arrest an accused in a pending criminal case, according to officials.

However, villagers and the local sarpanch assert that the police were accompanying a survey team for land acquisition for a proposed coal mining project. The sarpanch, Babulal Poya, said the police arrived around 3 a.m. and took his son, Birendra, sparking protests that turned violent.

Additional Superintendent of Police Yogesh Dewangan told reporters that the police anticipated resistance to the arrests and came prepared, but did not expect such violent opposition. He claimed that villagers hurled stones and chased the policemen with sticks. He denied that any survey team was with the force.

The sarpanch countered that the mining company's survey team had visited earlier in the month, and the village had not given its no-objection certificate for the project. He said the compensation offered was far below market rates and that the government was not willing to discuss the issue. The village is predominantly populated by Gond tribals, and the area falls under the Fifth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which provides special protections for tribal lands.

Efforts to reach Mr. Dewangan and District Superintendent Yogesh Patel for further comment were unsuccessful. The exact number of injured police personnel remains unconfirmed, with some reports suggesting it could be more than six.