— Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

TAKING TO THE STREETS: Farmers from different parts of West Bengal, who are supporting the CPI (ML) Liberation, protesting against land acquisition initiatives by the State Government for industrial projects, in Kolkata on Tuesday.

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Tuesday that a notification issued by the Haldia Development Authority without government sanction identifying certain "mouzas" as sites for a special economic zone (SEZ) and two industrial projects in Nandigram and surrounding areas was used by certain forces to create confusion in the minds of the locals to incite them to violence.

Six persons were killed in group clashes there over the weekend on the issue of land acquisition for the proposed SEZ.

"It was wrong of the Haldia Development Authority [a State body] to issue such a notice ... Confusion among the local people is only natural if such a document from a State agency is brought to their notice," Mr. Bhattacharjee said, adding that he had drawn the attention of the district administration to it.

Political process

"I will start a political process and talk to all local panchayats and only after doing so will a map for the proposed SEZ be finalised. The loss that has been the outcome of the confusion created will have to be made up for," the Chief Minister asserted.

Any land acquisition process would exclude homesteads and places of worship and would only follow discussions at the local panchayat level, he reiterated. The Haldia Development Authority was not the competent body to serve notices of land acquisition.

The Chief Minister sought the cooperation of all political parties in restoring the confidence of the people in the area and helping establish peace there.

There was no report of any fresh violence in the area. The police have set up camps at four places and steps were on to restore road links. Additional security forces have been sent.

CPI (M) appeal

Leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) took out a procession exhorting people to exercise restraint and help restore normality. All-party meetings were held to ensure no further breakdown in law and order.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi visited the Sonachura area. He said he would submit a report to the Centre and demand that the State seek a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the events leading to the violence.

Congress' charge

A State Congress delegation called on Mr. Bhattacharjee and discussed ways to restore peace at Nandigram. It alleged that the local administration failed to prevent the violence. It demanded that assurances be given to the locals that land would not be acquired without prior consultations with their representatives.

Earlier, while passing through the city on his way to Assam, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh wondered why the Congress high command was maintaining silence on the State Government's plans of land acquisition for industry. "Is it because there is a friendly Government in West Bengal?"

Mr. Singh said a five-member team of senior BJP MPs led by Sushma Swaraj would visit Nandigram on Wednesday.

Governor's role sought

A 30-member Trinamool Congress delegation called on Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi and condemned the "authoritarian" tendencies of the Left Front Government. It demanded his intervention to break the deadlock arising from the Government's policies on land acquisition for industry.

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