By IANS
Kolkata : Several cartridge shells and ammunition were recovered from Nandigram Tuesday, a day after a new burial mound was found in the violence-torn West Bengal area.
The police said about 25 empty shells of .315 bullets and four packets of the ammunition, each containing 10 cartridges, were recovered from near the burial mounds at Parulbari near Nandigram. The ammunition had the markings of a Pune factory.
“The empty cartridges were recovered by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. A gun battle had occurred in the same area a few days ago. But we can’t confirm if the ammunition was used during the ‘recapture’ of Nandigram by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) cadres last month,” East Midnapore police superintendent S.S. Panda told IANS.
“We have informed the Haldia Chief Judicial Magistrate about the new grave found Monday,” Panda said.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy ordered a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) inquiry into the new burial mound.
Earlier, five burial mounds were found on the side of a road at Khejuri, near Nandigram, from which charred skeletal remains were unearthed.
The charred bones were later sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory for tests.
Meanwhile, local villagers alleged the cartridge shells were left behind by armed CPI-M cadres who entered Nandigram through Parulbari area Nov 7 and launched a fierce attack on rival Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) activists.
R.K. Sharma, CRPF 190 battalion commandant, said the shells do not belong to the police. “The government has given permission for use of .315 bullets to those who have firearms license. It needs to be investigated how the ammunition came to Nandigram,” said Sharma, adding that normalcy has returned to Nandigram and people were returning to their homes.
CRPF personnel are patrolling all the violence-hit areas, he said.
Nandigram, about 150 km from here in East Midnapore district, flared up over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ), including a chemical hub – a plan that was scrapped by the state government later in the face of stiff resistance.
Thirty-five people have died in violence in Nandigram since January this year. A fresh bout of violence broke out in November after ruling CPI-M cadres allegedly recaptured their lost bases in the area by launching a massive onslaught on the rival anti-land acquisition BUPC.