BRBC employees and family held hostage by villagers from 3 days

Aurangabad, Sep 11: The employees of Bharatiya Rail Bijlee Company Ltd in Aurangabad, Bihar, and their family members were held hostage by around 300 villagers for the third consecutive day, said officials.

The 150 employees of the state-run electricity company and their family members are being held hostage in the township since Sunday evening by people of Surar and neighbouring villages demanding supply of power, Vishwanath Chandan, NTPC manager (public relations), Patna.

The 1,000-mw power plant located in Aurangabad is a joint venture between the NTPC and the Railways. "We are making efforts for an amicable solution with the help of the local administration," Chandan said. The BRBCL unit of the NTPC Executive Federation of India (NEFI) has also urged the company management to end the impasse by this evening, failing which the NEFI said it would relocate its employees out of the township.

Around 300 people from Surar and neighbouring villages are camping outside the main gate of the BRBCL township and throwing stones into the premises, official sources said. Aurangabad District Magistrate Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal said, "The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Sadar were sent for holding talks with the villagers on Monday. It continued till 10 pm but the stalemate could not be resolved.

The block development officer (BDO) and circle officer (CO) of Nabinagar were camping at the site to ensure that the situation does not worsen, Mahiwal. On Monday, the BRBCL management had lodged an FIR stating that the villagers had pelted stones, burnt tyres at the main gate of the BRBCL township and cut supplies of essential commodities such as milk, vegetables and medicines by not allowing anyone to either enter or exit the township. BRBCL sources alleged that the villagers used to pilfer electricity generated by the BRBCL from underground cables for over seven years, but it was snapped four days ago following a short circuit.

PTI