Nandigram erupts in violence again, rehab in Singur begins

Violence erupted for the second time today since the first outburst on January 3 when people protesting against land acquisition for a proposed SEZ in Bhawanipore near Nandigram murdered a policeman of the district intelligence bureau around noon today.

Violence erupted for the second time today since the first outburst on January 3 when people protesting against land acquisition for a proposed SEZ in Bhawanipore near Nandigram murdered a policeman of the district intelligence bureau around noon today.

The incident comes as a shock as well as a setback to the state government that has been trying to restore normalcy in the region after the early January flare-up in which four people were killed in clashes among villagers. Nandigram, itself, continues to be cut off with its access roads dug up by villagers in a bid to prevent the administration’s entry.

Today, violence spread to its adjoining area of Ishwardaha-Jalbai under the Bhawanipore police station that is right across Nandigram by the Haldi river. Villagers in this area, traditionally a CPM bastion, had snapped road links when a police party arrived there.

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A police party of eight, including the District Intelligence Bureau’s Sadhu Chatterjee, went to the area to inquire about the tension building up. Within half an hour, they were surrounded by a large mob, which assaulted them with sticks and iron rods. One uniformed policeman managed to escape but six others were seriously assaulted.

The body of the slain policeman was missing and was suspected to have been thrown into the river. Eyewitness accounts said that local residents had seen the body being dumped into the Haldi river, a tributary of the Hooghly. The administration was considering asking Coast Guard teams to trace the body. A dozen people were arrested in connection with the violence.

The area is part of around 10,000 acres the Left Front government proposes to acquire for a special economic zone (SEZ) aimed at capitalising on its location near the port of Haldia.

Ever since mob violence erupted at Nandigram on January 3, Nandigram has been out of bounds for the administration and the police, with local people digging up roads or blocking them with tree trunks.

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Wednesday’s violence followed tension brewing between supporters of the CPM and a newly-formed committee that has vowed to resist the acquisition of farmland for industry.

Raj Kanojia, Inspector General of Police in charge of law and order, said senior officials had been sent to the area to probe the incident.

After a high-level meeting called by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, State Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray said: “This is the first time that a police personnel has been killed in the state over the issue of land. We are considering sending more policemen to the area.”

Siddiqullah Chowdhury, chief of the Jamiat Ulemah-i-hind, which is leading the Nandigram protests addressing a rally near Singur when Bhawanipore was being rocked by the violence, warned that if there was any police crackdown at Nandigram, the Chief Minister’s residence in Kolkata would be “gheraoed by thousands of people.”