Tribe blockades road in protest over killings
January 11, 2006
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Tribal people in the Indian state of Orissa are blocking a major highway in protest over the massacre of twelve people at Kalinganagar.
Police opened fire on 2 January on a crowd, mainly from the Ho tribe, protesting against the construction of a steel plant on their land. Thousands of tribal people across Orissa have already lost their land due to industrialisation. The massacre is focusing opposition to a new wave of mining and metal factory projects.
Eyewitnesses have reported that the hands of five of the corpses had been chopped off when they were returned from police custody.
Sonia Gandhi, President of India's ruling Congress Party, is scheduled to visit Kalinganagar today.