Meanwhile, DIG, CRPF Alok Raj took charge of additional three companies for the polls as flag marches were staged in villages including Gokulnagar, Takapara, Sonachura and Aamgachia. At some places, the paramilitary force faced allegations of not being neutral, Raj said.
Communist Party of India-Marxist and anti-acquisition Bhoomi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee activists on Monday exchanged fire in trouble-torn Nandigram in east Midnapore district amidst reports of a gunshot injury to one person.
A blood-soaked Nandigram made Mamata Banerjee what she is today and underpins the hopes of the combustible West Bengal leader of clinching a third straight term in office.
This is the first instance of violence since the Central Reserve Police Force was deployed in the area following the 'recapture' of the area by the CPI M. The forces were present at the village when the houses were set on fire.
The Central Reserve Police Force on Monday moved into the interior villages of Garchakraberia and Tekhalibazar in troubled Nandigram shortly after their arrival following reports of fresh violence.
Fresh violence broke out on Monday in West Bengal's embattled Nandigram between supporters of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee, which is opposing land acquisition for industrialisation, and activists of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist. Sources said both sides exchanged fire and hurled bombs at each other at a new area in Nandigram, where two BUPC members were injured.
Ahead of panchayat elections, fresh violence broke out in Nandigram on Saturday with two women raped allegedly by Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres during a clash between supporters of Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee and Marxists at Adhikaripara in Nandigram in which eight BUPC men were injured.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that a "blueprint" was being prepared to "rekindle violence" in Nandigram by relocating CRPF camps away from the areas where the anti-acquisition activists have taken shelter.
Gunfire, arson and looting allegedly by Communist Party of India-Marxist activists was reported from recaptured Bhumi Ucched Pratirod Committee strongholds of Garchakraberia, Sonachura and Gokulnagar in Nandigram, as the bandh called by the entire opposition paralysed normal life in West Bengal. Fresh violence broke out in Nandigram recently as the CPI-M and the Trinamool Congress cadre fight to gain control over the area.
Trinamool Congress backs the BUPC, an anti-land acquisition front in Nandigram, which has witnessed violent protests on the issue.
A BUPC member alleged that a woman was attacked by CPI-M activists for her active role in the land acquisition resistance agitation.
Three persons were killed in a bomb blast in Nandigram on Sunday when a bandh was being observed in the area at the call of the an organisation opposing land acquisition.
His claim at the press conference that vested interests were trying to divide Hindus and Muslims in Nandigram drew an angry response from the BUPC.
Trouble began on Sunday morning when about 100-200 people from Khejuri tried to enter Nandigram in batches.
Sources said they would gherao the Block Development Officer's office and local police station on January 25 to protest the bombings and to demand a thorough inquiry into the violence on January seven in which six persons were killed.
Fourteen persons were killed in the firing on a demonstration against land acquisition on March 14, leading to a nationwide outrage and the Calcutta high court 'suo motu' ordering a CBI investigation.
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