Narendra Mohanty (or Narendra Mohanthy) is a prominent human rights defender and the Coordinator of Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) for the State of Odisha, a network of NGOs working to protect the livelihood of marginalized communities and to ensure an ecologically just society. On 14 January 2022, Narendra Mohanty and human rights defenders Debendra Swain and Muralidhar Sahoo, were arrested by police officers because of their support for the peaceful protest by the local community against the land acquisition by the district administration for Jindal Steel Work Utkal Limited, and the forcible destruction of community betel vine plantations. Police reportedly violently repressed the protest, injuring many including women and children, and arrested over 500 villagers from the protest site, including Nimai Mallick, Manguli Kandi and Trinath Mallick.