While police fired plastic bullets and tear-gas shells to disperse the protesting mob, who included women and children, stones and crude bombs were used by the protesters in retaliation. More than fifty villagers as well as a few policemen sustained injuries in the clash which continued for nearly two hours.
Police arrested 15 protesters, including five women, in connection with the incident.
Tension has been prevailing in Jagatsinghpur since Friday after the district administration deployed nearly fifteen platoons of armed police in the area to begin the land acquisition process for the 12 million-tonne proposed Posco steel mill.