Ranchi:Â A group of villagers on early Thursday vandalized the boundary wall of an under-construction Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and a law university campus.
“Villagers were trying to demolish the boundary wall of the construction site,” Ranchi Sub-Divisional Magistrate Amit Kumar told reporters here.
The villagers, who are opposing the land acquisition for the premier institutions coming up at Nagari, about 20 km from here, also attacked a police vehicle, police said.
The villagers were also enraged by the Jharkhand High Court order Wednesday, which directed the authorities to deploy para-military forces if need be to ensure safety of the workers at the site.
The villagers, who claim the land acquired for the IIM and the law university was used by them for agriculture, have lost their appeals in the Jharkhand High Court as well as the Supreme Court.
The state government acquired the land some 50 years ago for an agricultural university, but villagers encroached upon it when the project got delayed. When the government tried to re-claim it last year for building the new institutes, protests erupted against the move.
The villagers have also rejected enhanced compensation recommended by a government constituted committee headed by Land and Revenue Minister Mathura Mahto.