The targeted attacks by pro-company people or hired goondas and the active connivance of the district administration with the company is coming down heavy on the movement. Even then, the adivasis and Dalits opposed to mining are fighting it out legally in the courts and through large mobilization on the ground.
Groundxero | 23 March, 2026
Adivasi villages of Tijmali, especially around Sagabari, Bantej, Bondel, Kantamal and Talaampadar, are witnessing an overwhelming presence of armed police and vehicles, drones flying on the area, and police on the lookout for the leading members of Ma Mati Mali Surakya Mancha (MMMSM), the organization leading the resistance to Vedanta’s bauxite mining project since almost three years now. On February 26, 27 and 28, around 200 police and paramilitary forces marched into three villages on consecutive days to paste arrest warrants issued by the SDM Rayagada and JMFC Kashipur on the walls of leading members of MMMSM. On February 26th they marched into Banteji, on 27th February, they marched right through the village of Kantamal, one of the strongholds of the movement and on 28th February they marched through Sagabari village. The warrants were not served personally and have also been put up on trees.Since then, drones and police vehicles became a regular feature until today.
Police and paramilitary forces marching into villages
Intensifying Repression
On the night of March 10, a confrontation of villagers of Talaampadar (Kalahandi district) with a pro-company villager escalated sharply. The police descended on the village in the middle of the night and picked up 21 adivasis, including 11 women. They raided houses at random and broke many doors and doorways. Of the 11 women, there is a nineteen-year old woman who is pregnant; there are three minors; and quite a few with very small children. They are languishing in District Jail of Bhawanipatna of Kalahandi district. The police force that was in hundreds also had some people in uniform as reported to us. Similarly, there were many private vehicles. These arrests of women in the middle of the night, no doubt, construe illegal arrests.
State repression has intensified in the wake of the padayatras held by villagers of Tijmali, Majhingimali and Kuturumali in mid-January claiming their land, hills and streams and asserting their autonomy over their sacred hills. This entire area is also protected under the Fifth Schedule Area of the Indian Constitution. The padyatraswere in response to the Forest Advisory Committee recommending Stage-I (in-principle) approval for the diversion of 708.204 hectares of forest for Sijimali Bauxite Mines although the gram sabhas held by the district administration with the coercion of company goondas and police have been challenged in High Court by the people. The issues were plenty: they also demanded the release of over nine leaders confined: Padman Naik, Kartik Naik, and Labanya Naik (Bhawanipatna jail), and Naringi Dei Majhi, Jaleswar Naik, Ramakant Naik, Mithun Naik, Sundar Singh Majhi and Laxman Naik (Rayagada jail).
Coercion and repression is the only response of the BJP-led government headed by an Adivasi Chief Minister that is aiding mega corporations for mining, be it for bauxite in Tijmali or limestone in Sundargrah district. Drones and growing police presence has become a permanent feature in Fifth Schedule areas.
In a recent visit, many Adivasi peasants and wage workers reported how they are losing out on earnings as it is impossible to step outside. Going out to the forest and river for daily chores is also filled with uncertainty as there are drones flying. These drones are followed by patrolling of vehicles in a row – from 18 to 25 maybe, and long marches of armed police through the area. As there are hundreds of fabricated criminal cases as FIRS, there is a great deal of uncertainty about anyone being picked up by the police. Families lamented how they have not been able to even visit their dear ones in jail. Last but not least, the inability to work or to earn is resulting in families having only one meal a day nowadays.
March 10 to 13 witnessed mounting tension. Drones are used to detect people’s whereabouts and movements. On March 13, five leading members of Ma Mati Mali Surakya Mancha were chased by the police. As they outdid the police in running up the hill, Umakant Naik fell behind and was immediately arrested. This is the second time that he is confined.
Our previous update was put out in early November. Let us narrate a few important dates since then that also reveal how the targeted attacks by pro-company people or hired goondas and the active connivance of the district administration with the company is coming down heavy on the movement. Even then, the adivasis and Dalits opposed to mining are fighting it out legally in the courts and through large mobilization on the ground.
Birsa Munda Jayanti
There were hectic preparations on in Nakrundi panchayat in Kalahandi district for Birsa Munda Jayanti on November 15, 2025. On the previous day, Sanu Majhi from Amjhola village was detained for a few hours, while Mithun Naik from Kachalekha village was arrested and imprisoned in Rayagada jail. On the day of the event, some local youths attempted very hard to disrupt the event. However, the organizers peacefully intervened and persuaded them to leave the spot. It was admirable the manner in which the women kept the event going by sitting in strict discipline and refusing to budge as Birsa Munda Jayanti is one of the most sacred days for them symbolising the constant struggle of Adivasis to fight and protect their land.
Birsa Munda Jayanti on November 15, 2025
That very day, an FIR was filed against some of the organizers. It is a shame that in a state led by an Adivasi Chief Minister, even this celebration was targeted. There were arrests on the previous day, engineered fights on the day followed by the arrest of Kartik Naik within a couple of days. Soon, Labanya Naik was arrested. It was Kartik Naik’s second time in jail. He spent four months in Bhawanipatna jail and was released on bail on March 18. He has heavy charges on him, including sections of the Arms Act. Labanya Naik is yet to be released.
Assault By Police In Plainclothes At Sunger Chowk
On December 7, a group of men entered the garage of Dayanidhi Naik (age 28) at Sunger Chowk in Kashipur block. This group of unidentified men, probably the Kashipur police, came in two vehicles. They assaulted him and dragged him to the vehicle. They said they were police staff but no one was in uniform. The vehicles did not have any police plate and there was no light on the top as police vehicles have. A group of people rushed to help him. Meanwhile, the police hit an 11 -year-old boy badly on his leg. He was limping for a long time. And they threw away a little girl who was in her mother’s arms. Dayanidhi Naik fought back the police physically and managed to free himself from their grasp. The only person who the people could recognise was SI P.K. Swain from Kashipur PS. A large group of unidentified men forcefully abducting a person on a Sunday afternoon reveals the goonda raj fostered by the administration and company to intimidate and terrorise those in the movement who want to protect their land and forests from the perils of mining.
Illegal Aacquisation Of Forest Land For Vedanta
On December 2, 2025, the FAC recommended Stage-I (in-principle) approval for the diversion of 708.204 hectares of forest for Sijimali Bauxite Mines. The FAC also noted that several representations had been received alleging irregularities and fraudulent conduct of Gram Sabha proceedings. The hectic rush even before environment clearance is for the construction of the approach road to the mining area via Sagabari. Ma Mati Mali Surakhya Manch has been opposing the entry of police or administration to undertake this construction work since many months. And they have been sitting on vigil in a camp set up near Sagabari. The road leads to Malipadar and Tijmali villages situated on the hill top.
Lawyers Protest Illegal Land Acquisation
On 15 December, 2025, PUCL released a letter to the national media in which over 125 lawyers, legal professionals (faculty) and law students from across the country registered their protest against the illegal acquisition of forest and Fifth Schedule land in Odisha’s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts for Vedanta Ltd.’s proposed Sijimali bauxite mining project, and the sustained criminalisation and intimidation of Adivasi villagers resisting it. In a detailed petition addressed to the Governor of Odisha, the Director General of Police, and the district collectors and superintendents of police of Rayagada and Kalahandi, the lawyers demanded immediate intervention to halt land acquisition in Fifth Schedule areas, withdraw criminal cases against villagers, and curb what they call “colonial-era repression” unleashed to facilitate Vedanta’s mining project in Sijimali.
Invoking the special powers of the Governor under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, the lawyers urged immediate intervention to restore peace and good governance in Scheduled Areas, stressing that these constitutional responsibilities cannot be abdicated in favour of corporate interests.
The key demands included a review of the mining lease granted to Vedanta, withdrawal of all FIRs against villagers, release of detained leaders with compensation for illegal arrests and torture, and a complete halt to all project-related work until Gram Sabhas can take decisions in a fear-free environment. The lawyers also sought an independent inquiry into police and administrative excesses, a ban on company staff entering villages, and Gram Sabha approval for any police deployment in the area.
Student Protests At Sambalpur And Cuttack
Two spontaneous protests in solidarity with the struggle against bauxite mining took place on January 12 and 13, respectively, at Sambalpur University and at Ravenshaw University. These protests condemning the incarceration of Adivasis and Dalits and the growing police repression in the region also upheld people’s right to protect their Fifth Schedule areas and say NO to bauxite mining. The placard at Ravenshaw University said “Our Aravali: Sijimali!! We stand in solidarity with the people of Sijimali.”
Students in solidarity with the struggle at Ravenshaw University, Cuttack
Students in solidarity with the struggle at Sambalpur University
March 8, 2026
On the morning of March 8, hundreds of women gathered in response to the intense surveillance and police patrolling. They marched from Kantamal to Sagbari shouting slogans Vedanta – Go Back, and claiming that the land as theirs. Be it any celebration or mass meeting, rally or demonstration the presence of women and girls is vibrant in huge numbers. They form the backbone of the movement.
Hundreds of women marched from Kantamal to Sagbari on March 8
Arrests, Bails And Bail Conditions
Getting bail becomes a huge celebration as villagers gather to greet those who emerge from the confines of the prison. On February 18, Narengi Dei Majhi, Sundar Singh Majhi and Ramakant Naik walked out free from Raygada Jail. Jaleswar Naik was released on March 11. The sacrifice of Adivasis and Dalits enduring incarceration for protecting their land is one of the most prominent aspects of the movement. Slogans of Jai Bhim resonated in the night sky along with the call to save Sijimali.
Narengi Dei Majhi, Sundar Singh Majhi and Ramakant Naik walked out free from Raygada Jail
Laxman Naik was picked up from his residence in Raygada on December 1. He was granted bail on 16 December. Mithun Naik from Kachalekha village was arrested from Nov 14 to January 14. Villagers celebrated the release of both Mithun Naik and Laxman Naik on 15 December. However, Mithin Naik was arrested once again on 29 January and released on 28 February.
The circumstances of Mithun Naik’s arrest point to a growing reliance on hired goons and intermediaries. He had been deeply involved in organizing for the next day’s Birsa Munda Jayanti event and was returning along the Karlapat road when a group of nine men ambushed him on a bridge near a village. They beat him severely and snatched his bag. He was then abandoned at a location in Rampur, where another group arrived in a travel bus. Among them, he recognized two individuals, one of whom was a plainclothes policeman from Karlapat police station. They subsequently handed him over to the Rayagada police in Kashipur.
When he was produced before the court, he was in intense pain and shock, yet neither did the judge inquire about his condition, nor was he able to speak about the torture he had endured. He had been intimidated not to disclose anything before the court. However, after his release on January 14, he waited for some time before approaching the Karlapat police station to file an FIR regarding his abduction on November 14. The police recorded his complaint and asked him to return after a few days. The Karlapat police had neither registered his FIR nor made any diary entry. Instead, when he went back on January 29, he was informed that a warrant had been issued against him and was arrested on the spot.The entire episode has been a gruelling ordeal.
As done earlier by the High Court, the Raygada District Court imposed the same bail condition on Laxman Naik, Narengi Dei Majhi, Sundar Singh Majhi, Ramakant Naik and Jaleswar Naik.“The Petitioner shall clean the premises of the Kashipur Police Station in the morning hour (between 6.00 A.M. to 9.00 A.M.) for two months from the date of his actual release in the aforesaid case. The I.I.C of the Kashipur Police Station shall provide the cleaning article like broom, phenyl and other items to the Petitioner so that he can clean the said premises”.
Such bail conditions are not free from the prejudice against SC and ST communities. If such bail conditions become a judicial precedence, it will adversely affect the principle of right to bail, and lead to more executive highhandedness. It seems to be vindictive as perhaps pre-trial punishment as part of retributive justice system.
Resistance Brewing Nearby
On another front of the movement, the people of Pulingpadar and Chandgiri villages are also resisting land grab by Vedanta, which is forcefully trying to build rehabilitation colonies for the proposed evictees of the Sijimali Mining Project. Since 19 March 2026, hundreds of villagers of Pulingpadar have been indefinitely camping at the Kurkuti forest block to haltthe company bulldozers from felling trees and destroying the sacred groves. They have customary rights over this land as per the FRA.
It is evident how the state-industry-military nexus is hell bent on twisting every rule in the book and illegally get at the mining resources. Similar situation prevails in Sundargarh district where the administration is aiding Dalmia Cement in limestone mining with heavy police and paramilitary forces. These are Fifth Schedule areas that in principle grants autonomy to the people over their lands, forests, hills and streams and sacred sites. Tijmali is fast becoming a conflict zone. Let us uphold the right to dissent for Adivasis and Dalits as the state seeks to take over their lands, lives, livelihoods and all else. The endless incarcerations have to be halted. The drones have to stop! The police patrolling has to come to an end!
Stand in Solidarity with the Struggle of Adivasis and Dalits in Tijmali!! Say No To Bauxite Mining!
Update compiled by: Ranjana Padhi and Dr Randall Sequeira
Contact email ID: formountainsandforests@gmail.com