CPM cadres seal off Nandigram, stall CRPF

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, riding pillion on a motorcycle, tried to enter Nandigram via Radhamani Bazar but was stopped by CPM men.

At the Tamluk hospital where she met the injured, Mamata said: “There is no rule of law here. How can they stop me from entering Nandigram?”.

At the hospital, the injured recalled the nightmare.

“Our leaders told us that (Chief Minister) Buddhadeb (Bhattacharjee) has declared a ceasefire, no one will attack us anymore. But as we approached Maheshpur, CPM cadres shot at us from both sides of the road. They hurled bombs, trapping us in between. I tried to run but suddenly I felt a searing pain and fell. Before I passed out, I saw my neighbour Harun, his entrails were out,” said 21-year old Moni Shaw of Sonachura.

Next to her bed lay a 40-year-old woman who, along with her two daughters, had been allegedly gangraped at Satengabari.

CPM cadres not only blocked all entry points to Nandigram but also the national highways passing through the area. Rampaging through 103 gram panchayat areas, they regained almost total control even as the state government began deploying the CRPF.

The police rescued 100 of the 350 people who went missing from Maheshpur but conceded that a large number were still in Khejuri, an area dominated by the CPM.

“It is a war zone with violence continuing. We are tallying the names of the missing and have rescued some of them. But the majority are still holed up in Khejuri under CPM control. We are waiting for the deployment of CRPF,” said East Midnapore SSP S S Panda.

Armed CPM cadres could be seen blocking the crossings at Nandakumar, Chandipur, Kapashberia, Mograjpur, Tengua and other points leading to Nandigram.

Asoke Guria, CPM district committee member of East Midnapore, said: “All the homeless of Nandigram, who were in camps for 11 months, have succeeded in returning to their villages. The CPM has established control over Garchakraberia, Sonachura and Adhikaripara. Miscreants under the banner of BUPC (Bhumi Ucchad Pratirodh Samiti or the Save Land Committee) have begun to flee the area. Peace will be resorted in Nandigram soon.”

BUPC leader Abu Sufiyan said “we are trying our best to resist but the situation is out of our hands.” He alleged that villagers were being raped and murdered.

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