Kolkata(IANS) : West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Thursday appreciated the role of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in controlling the situation in Nandigram, though his Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) was critical of it.
The chief minister said in the state legislative assembly that the central paramilitary force had been successful in controlling the unabated violence in the trouble-torn region.
Due to the joint operations conducted by the state police and the CRPF like patrolling, seizure of arms and ammunition, there had been no violence in Nandigram since Nov 12, he said.
Since then, altogether 30 arrests have been made in Nandigram, Bhattacharya said, adding peace and normalcy had returned to the area mainly due to the efforts of the CRPF.
Earlier, CPI-M state general secretary Biman Bose and the party’s central committee member Binoy Konar accused the central force of attacking their party supporters in Nandigram, 150 km from here.
Bhattacharya said the state government would, however, look into the complaints received against the CRPF.
Meanwhile, a six-member CPI-M delegation led by Basudev Acharya visited Nandigram in East Midnapore district Thursday to assess the situation there amid allegations of atrocities by the CRPF against its cadres.
Party leaders Moinul Hasan, Amitava Nandi, Sudhangshu Sil, Tarit Baran Topdar and Sushmita Bauri were part of the delegation.
The team visited areas like Satengabari and Maheshpur that were worst hit by political clashes since January and talked to the victims. They also held talks with the CRPF and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials and also the local administration there, party sources said.