Doctor and Dalit activist arrested in Odisha amid accusations of anti-mining protest crackdown
A physician serving tribal villages and a Dalit leader were detained in Odisha, which the Congress says reflects a broader suppression of anti-mining protests.
On the night of October 16, Odisha police detained doctor Randall Sequeira and Dalit activist Laxman Naik, linking them to an April 7 clash in Kantamal village over a proposed bauxite-mining road. Sequeira, originally from Mangaluru and trained in internal medicine, relocated to Kalahandi in 2017 to serve Adivasi villages and later backed anti-mining rallies. Naik, affiliated with the Ma Mati Mali Surakhya Manch and Samajwadi Jan Parishad, also supported local resistance.
Authorities have charged both with serious offences, including attempt to murder, rioting and violations of the Arms Act, asserting they incited villagers against police. The Congress, through Jairam Ramesh and MP Saptagiri Ulaka, alleges the arrests are part of systematic repression that has produced dozens of cases and over a hundred imprisonments in three years, accusing the state of breaching the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act.
Police officials, including South Western Range DIG Akhileshvar Singh, dismissed the repression claim, insisting the detainees were not innocent. The episode revives debate over mining projects in Sijimali, Kutrumali and Niyamgiri and the rights of tribal and Dalit populations.
Why it matters
The arrests underscore growing conflict between mining development and tribal/Dalit rights, raising concerns about political repression in Odisha.
In this story
