On 23 August 2023, environmental human rights defenders Abhi Sadapelli and Dasa Kora were abducted by Chhattisgarh police from Kankadamba and Bhitarkota, Odisha, India. According to the defenders, they were chained and subjected to torture for 3 days by the police officials. Both defenders are members of Maliparbat Suraksha Samithi (MSS), a community NGO which is working against illegal mining operations in Maliparbat hills where a bauxite mining lease has been granted to Hindalco Industries.

In September 2021, police arrested many people protesting Hindalco Industries' application for new mining clearances, including members of MSS. Abhi Saapelli and his wife reported receiving death threats. The Resource Centre invited Hindalco Industries to respond to these allegations in September 2021, it did not.

Community resistance against bauxite mining in Odisha, including by Vedanta Resources, Adani Group and Hindalco, has come under increased repression. On 16 August 2023, members of the Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti (NSS) Dhanful Majhi, Sitaram Majhi and Anil Nayak were arrested. Krushna Sikaka and Bari Sikaka were arrested on 5 August, and 9 defenders were accused of "unlawful assembly"; Ladda Sikaka, Drenju Krushka, Manu Sikaka, Samba Huikia, Lingaraj Azad, Gobinda Bag, Upendra Bag, British Naik and Lenin Kumar for protesting against the abduction of Sikaka and Sikaka on 6 August. In April 2024, the Resource Centre invited Hindalco Industries, Vedanta Resources, and Adani Group to respond to its "People under pressure: Human rights defenders & business in 2023" report, which includes information about attacks on HRDs opposing bauxite mining in Odisha. All three companies responded and denied the allegations.