Paradip (Orissa): At least six persons, including a child, were injured in a clash at Gobindpur near here today between supporters and opponents of POSCO's proposed steel project, police sources said.

The incident took place when a group of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti activists were returning from work to prevent water-logging near the mouth of Jatadhari river where the South Korean major has proposed to set up a steel plant, they said.

As the PPSS activists neared Gobindpur School on their way back to Dhinkia village, a group of nearly 200 armed supporters of POSCO confronted them, leading to the clash, the sources said.

Three POSCO opponents and an equal number from the rival camp were injured in the incident, they said adding the injured were taken to a nearby hospital and two of them were later shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

Water-logging near Jatadhari mouth had affected vast areas of agricultural land. Members of a government team which had gone to the area to clear water-logging last year had been attacked allegedly by PPSS activists, sources said.

Source : PTI