More violence in Nandigram

NANDIGRAM: Guns blazed in Nandigram for the second successive day on Saturday as CPM cadres and Bhumi Uchchhed Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) activists clashed, leaving at least five people injured. Police had to fire a few rounds in the air to bring the violence under control, which had left five policemen wounded on Friday.
In Kolkata, governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi visited SSKM Hospital in the morning to inquire into the condition of police inspector Prabhat Sarkar, who was shot in the head at Bhangaberia on Friday.Condemning the violence, he appealed for peace. "I hope peace is established in Nandigram soon." On Saturday, CPM cadres went on the offensive.
BUPC leaders, who had vowed to prevent the government from acquiring farmlands for industry, alleged that around 6 am, CPM cadres from Khejuri assaulted students protesting the presence of a police camp in their school premises.
Gokulnagar villagers like Balaram Mondal, Samiran Sau, Sibsankar Paik and Dilip Das came forward to rescue the children but were beaten by CPM cadres. They were admitted to Nandigram block hospital. Afterwards, CPM cadres rounded up three persons, suspecting them of being BUPC activists, at Tekhali market, and took them to a local party office where they were allegedly beaten up.
"I was going to my relative's place in Nandigram but CPM men at Tekhali market seized me after inquiring whether I have any connection with the Pratirodh Committee or not," said Sambhu Das. Around 9.30 am, CPM cadres started firing from the Khejuri side of the Tekhali market area. When they tried to advance and cross a bridge into an area controlled by the Trinamul party-backed anti-SEZ front, police fired a few rounds in the air to disperse the cadres. At the same time, police dispersed a group of BUPC members, who had assembled at the Nandigram end of the bridge.
"It was the Pratirodh Committee activists, who fired at us first. Then, we counter-attacked, forcing them to retreat," said Pratap Sau, CPM local committee member in Nandigram. But BUPC leader Abu Taher denied the charge: "In fact, the police force deployed in the Tekhali bridge area blank-fired to drive out the CPM cadres from the area."
East Midnapore superintendent of police G A Srinivas visited the spot during the day when tension mounted. "Police have brought the situation under control at Tekhali. We have been keeping a steady watch on the area," he said.
Meanwhile, CPM state secretary Biman Bose, along with party leaders Benoy Konar and Surjya Kanta Mishra visited Tamluk on Saturday to talk to party cadres and district leaders. "Some people have been talking of peace to settle the Nandigram issue but intend to prolong the violence and tension there to get political mileage," Bose said after the meeting.