Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Champai Soren has been placed under house arrest at his residence in Lalpur, Ranchi. The action was carried out by the City Deputy Superintendent of Police (City DSP).
Champai Soren was scheduled to plow the land in Nagri on Sunday in relation to the land dispute concerning the proposed Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences-2 (RIMS-2). A large demonstration was planned to take place with thousands of people expected to participate. However, before he could reach the protest site, he was prevented from leaving his residence.
Champai Soren shared this information on his social media handle, X. He wrote, “The Jharkhand government has placed me under house arrest since this morning to stop me from raising the voice of the tribal/original farmers of Nagri.”
The BJP leader from Jharkhand had planned to protest by plowing the land at the proposed RIMS-2 site in Nagri under the program ‘Hal Joto, Ropa Ropo’. Several other prominent BJP leaders are also being prevented from approaching the RIMS-2 land.
The administration appears to be fully prepared. Police personnel have been deployed in Nagri and surrounding areas to take immediate action against anyone attempting to disrupt the peace. This was confirmed by City DSP K.V. Raman.
It is noteworthy that there is resentment among the villagers regarding the prevention of farming on the land marked for RIMS-2 in Nagri and surrounding villages, as well as the fencing of the land with barbed wire. On the call of the ‘Nagri Land Bachao Sangharsh Samiti’ (Nagri Land Save Struggle Committee), villagers have been preparing for a protest for several days. The committee has invited farmers from the surrounding villages to participate in this protest.
The local people claim that the land was acquired a long time ago. However, since no construction work has taken place here, the farmers have a natural claim on this land.