KOLKATA : Violence erupted again in Nandigram, West Bengal, on Wednesday, with activists of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhoomi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) allegedly attacking an office of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with bombs and burning it and troublemakers ransacking some shops in the Tekhali Bazaar area. The BUPC has been spearheading the movement against setting up an industry in Nandigram.

There were also reports of at least two roads being dug up on Tuesday night in another part of Nandigram by persons suspected to belong to the BUPC. There has been tension in the Nandigram area since the violence there on March 14 in which 14 persons were killed.

A delegation that included some women who fled their homes in the wake of attacks over the past weeks, allegedly by BUPC activists, met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. He reportedly assured them that normality would be restored in the area soon.

Police camps shifted

Large parts of the area remain inaccessible to the police, even as two police camps were shifted to adjoining locations as part of a phased withdrawal.

The officers in charge of three thanas in the area have been temporarily shifted "for pre-promotion training, which is mandatory," Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told The Hindu .

The State Government has prepared an affidavit on the incident, as sought by a Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court, Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said.

He discounted reports that the Chief Minister was not briefed about the intelligence reports in the run-up to the police firing at Nandigram.

"The contents of all the intelligence reports [received by the State administration] were discussed with the Chief Minister," he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail