Police and villagers were locked in a battle at Taljhari village under Maharana sub division of Jharkhand’s Godda district. The cause was delimitation of land for coal mining.

The result was violent protest by villagers. After police intervened, they pelted stones and some had a scuffle with cops who lathi charged.

When villagers retaliated by throwing stones and shooting arrows through their bows. Then, cops resorted to tear gas shelling.The Sub Divisional Officer Shankar Tiwari is reported to have got injured in the incident.

Godda DC Jishan Quamar and SP Nathu Singh Meena were present at the site.

At Talajhari, nearly 100 acres were registered for coal mining by the Eastern Coalfields Ltd. But the villagers were not allowing the PSU ECL to start coal mining even though negotiations between them have been going on during the past five years.

This time the state administration and the police intervened against the stand taken by villagers against the ECL.