KOLKATA: Six persons were killed when two groups of armed villagers clashed intermittently through the night into the small hours of Sunday at Nandigram in West Bengal's Purbo Medinipur district following rumours that land acquisition for a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the area is imminent.

A few were reported missing since the violence erupted on Saturday night, giving rise to fears that the death toll could be higher — 11, according to unofficial estimates. Some victims bore bullet injuries while others were either beaten or stabbed to death.

Police surround area

The police have surrounded the area but were "using restraint so as not to precipitate the situation," officials said.

Both the Trinamool Congress, the principal Opposition party in the State, and the Congress have called for a State-wide bandh for 12 hours and 24 hours respectively on Monday in protest against the violence.

The Trinamool has given the call under the banner of the Krishi Jami Raksha (Save Farmland) Committee, which is also behind the agitation against the acquisition of farmland in Singur. The committee includes some naxalite factions.

The Socialist Unity Centre of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party too have called for a bandh.

Houses torched

Houses were torched and gunfire as well as bombs exchanged as the groups clashed. While one of the groups was stated to have been led by leaders of a local committee set up to protest against land acquisition, the other comprised those who have been trying to scotch rumours being spread.

Trouble has been brewing in the Nandigram area — the site of an SEZ to be set up by the Indonesian conglomerate, the Salim Group — since December 3 when villagers, instigated by rumours that the land acquisition process was to begin, attacked a local gram panchayat office, torched the local CPI (M) office and a police vehicle.

Inaccessible

Since then Nandigram remained virtually cut off from the rest of the district. Villagers who were apprehensive that their plots were about to be acquired for the SEZ put up road blocks, dug up pathways, and damaged culverts to ensure that the area remained inaccessible.

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