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Many Morcha alliance supporters rounded up

Special Correspondent

Ban orders in Dadri, Bajhehra Khurd village

LUCKNOW: Even as hundreds of Jan Morcha alliance supporters were rounded up by the police in different parts of western Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, strict prohibitory orders were enforced in Dadri and Bajhehra Khurd village as the State Government moved in to thwart the Jan Morcha march slated for Thursday. The march would be led by the Morcha convenor and former Prime Minister V.P. Singh.

Bajhehra Khurd village in Dadri, Ghaziabad district, is the site of the 3500 MW gas-based power plant of Reliance Energy Limited.

Security arrangements in and around Dadri, which is about 18 km from the village, were stepped up with the security personnel keeping a close watch on the movement of people in the town and at the village. State Principal Secretary (Home) Satish Kumar Agrawal said here that sufficient force had been deployed in Dadri and Bajhehra Khurd.

Court order

Mr. Agrawal said steps had been taken for maintaining the status quo and prevent any activity at the site of the power plant. He said in the light of the Allahabad High Court order the State Government was bound to maintain law and order in Dadri. "Even if the crowd gathers in Dadri with the objective of moving towards Bajhehra Khurd village, the possibility of creating trouble in the village cannot be ruled out," he said, adding that the ban orders imposed under Section 144 CrPC by the Ghaziabad District Magistrate cover Dadri as well.

Meanwhile, the police clamped down on Jan Morcha supporters in western UP in a bid to prevent them from moving towards Ghaziabad. According to Jan Morcha leaders, nearly 50,000 people would participate in the Dadri march which would include prominent farmers' leaders including Bhartiya Kisan Union chief Mahendra Singh Tikait and social activists like Medha Patkar and Aruna Roy.

At a press conference in Lucknow earlier this month, Mr. V.P. Singh assailed the UP Government for giving farmers' land to Reliance even before the issue of gas supply could be settled.

Jan Morcha president Raj Babbar said in Lucknow last week that the Dadri march on August 17 would mark the second phase of "mukti sangram" in UP.

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