By IANS
Kolkata : The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel will remain in trouble-torn Nandigram, despite opposition from the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), a top West Bengal official said Thursday.
“There is no question of asking the CRPF to go from Nandigram. Yes, there have been some initial misunderstandings, but those have been sorted out,” West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Ray told reporters.
Asked about the duration of the stay of the central force in the region in East Midnapore district, he said, “We have urged the Centre to let the CRPF stay in Nandigram for around three months. Let’s see what happens.”
CPI-M leader Shyamal Chakraborty Wednesday met Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and expressed reservations about the role of CRPF in Nandigram. He alleged the central force personnel were attacking CPI-M men.
Chakraborty, along with two other members of the CPI-M central committee – Mohammed Salim and Shyamali Gupta – visited Nandigram Tuesday, the first visit of a team of senior party leaders to the area since violence broke out there in January.
The CRPF was deployed in Nandigram, around 150 km from Kolkata, on Nov 12 in the wake of a fresh bout of violence early this month.
A few days after being deployed, the CRPF said they were not being allowed to set up camps in sensitive areas. The state’s Director General of Police A.B. Vohra had then assured that the matter would be resolved.
CRPF Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Alok Raj went on leave recently, apparently frustrated over the “partisan role” of the state police in Nandigram.