By IANS
Nandigram : The turf war between the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and the Trianmool Congress backed anti-land acquisition group Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) has led to fresh violence at Nandigram in West Bengal in the aftermath of five deaths in fighting and explosions over the weekend.
“The gun battle is raging in Satengabari and Ranichak areas. It began Monday night but we have no report of any injury,” an official of the Nandigram police station told IANS.
The BUPC claimed that the CPI-M had torched 10 houses Tuesday.
Trianmool Congress leader Sisir Adhikari said one of their supporters sustained a bullet injury and was taken to hospital.
Nandigram and adjoining Khejuri, located about 150 km from Kolkata in East Midnapore district, have been witnessing spiralling violence since January after the region flared up over fears of land acquisition for a proposed special economic zone (SEZ), including a chemical hub, in collaboration with Indonesia’s Salim group.
Though the proposed SEZ was scrapped by the state government after stiff resistance by the villagers, the two sides are continuing to fight for political supremacy in the run-up to a Panchayat election next year.
“At least 10 houses were torched in Nandigram Tuesday. They (the CPI-M) had torched 17 houses Monday and 100 the day before. The firing is continuing unabated,” Abdus Samad, the leader of the BUPC, told IANS.
Bengali TV channel Kolkata TV reported that four journalists, including a correspondent of India Today magazine and a reporter of Bengali daily Bartaman, were attacked but managed to escape.
The channel said that four armed processions were taken out in the area Tuesday.
According to the police, gun battles raged in Kamalpur, Keyakhali and Takapura areas of Nandigram Tuesday.
The renewed firing and arson was allegedly triggered by the CPI-M, which lost four supporters in an explosion early Sunday.
The explosion occurred at Khejuri, the base of the CPI-M and the scene of camps sheltering about 1,500 party supporters who were driven out of adjoining Nandigram by the BUPC. The CPI-M said their men died in bombs hurled by the BUPC while the latter said they died in a blast while making bombs in a camp.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Monday requested Home Minister Shivraj Patil to send central security forces to Nandigram but said only a political solution could end the violence since the issue of land acquisition that triggered the violence in January did not exist any more, after the proposed SEZ was scrapped.
Bhattacharya also said that armed Maoists have infiltrated the area to fuel violence.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s convoy allegedly came under fire Sunday at Tekhali bridge along the Nandigram-Khejuri border.
The bridge, near which the incident took place, and the canal act like a virtual line of control between the CPI-M supporters in their stronghold of Khejuri and the rival group of BUPC, which is strong in Nandigram.
The latest deaths take the official death toll since January to 28.