People's Democracy

Nandigram: Heinous Conspiracy Unearthed 

A HEINOUS conspiracy has been unearthed by the CPI(M) at Nandigram in east Midnapore, the area where the Bengal opposition ran riot recently on the slogan of ‘prevent industrialisation of the state’ and ended up by killing seven CPI(M) workers, and injuring at least 40. 

A four-storey building stands at the interior part of Sonachura area abutting Nandigram. The owner of the place is Manas Khatua who comes from a rich jotdars lineage and is himself a land shark. His son Shankar is an activist of the Trinamul Congress with links in the ranks of the Naxalites. 

For the past couple of months or so, Naxalites and fundamentalists of the Jamiat Ulama-i Hind have been congregating there and settling in. They came in small groups of three-to-five persons from places as far as Jehanabad, Gaya, and areas of Orissa bordering Contai in Midnapore east. There were also researchers and elderly university and college students with strong Maoist/Naxalite links. Medha Patkar is now known to have addressed a meeting in this house last month.

Arms and ammunitions started to pour in and the cache included not just sharp and cutting weapons but also bombs, hand guns, rifles, and even short-range mobile cannon of the kind last seen in the Trinamul Congress-led mayhem in Keshpur during 1999-2000. 

This group led the charge on the nights of January 7 and 8. They systematically dug ditches across roads linking Nandigram with the rest of the district. They placed tree trunks and sewerage pipes on busy crossings. They also destroyed at least one bridge and several culverts — all done to prevent the police from coming in. Then the attack on the helpless CPI(M) supporters taking shelter in the camps off Sonamura started with murder and mayhem.

CPI(M) state secretary Biman Basu has called upon the police and the administration to look into the development and unearth the conspiracy involved. It is believed that it was this group of professional saboteurs and killers who let loose the rumour that land was about to be acquired in Nandigram for industrial purposes. (B P)