At least four Posco steel officials who were engaged in the company’s corporate social responsibility project at Patana village in Jagatsinghpur district were abducted for 7 hours on Thursday by those who appose the proposed mega steel plant project.

Angry villagers took the officials of the South Korean company to the local Shiva temple premises as asked them to sit down until the government announced that no construction would be undertaken in their village.

The officials, Arun Mohapatra, Debasis Mohapatra, Prasant Rout and Nihar Das Mohapatra had gone to the village for to conduct a survey of households for inclusion in the CSR activities. They were freed only after they gave in writing that they will never return to the village.

Posco-India general manager Simanta Mohanty said, “We are happy that our people have been released. They were on routine visit to connect with the people and communities. I hope such situation would not happen in future and expect good support from the local people.”

The Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) is believed to be behind the abduction. There are no reports of any physical harm to the officials however some suggest that they were assaulted before being taken hostage. In the past three years, anti-Posco activists have held hostages on four to five occasions.

The proposed mega steel plant is the country’s largest foreign direct investment (FDI) with a total project cost of Rs 52,000-crore. PPSS is stern in its position and has asked the company to relocate of the project as it would affect the livelihood of many locals.