The Calcutta High Court has ordered the revival and prosecution of ten criminal cases related to murders in Nandigram and Khejuri during an anti-land acquisition movement in 2007. The court deemed the West Bengal government's decision to withdraw prosecution in these cases, involving the deaths of at least ten individuals, as unlawful. The bench emphasized that murders had indeed occurred and that allowing the prosecution to withdraw under Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code would not be in the public interest. The court stated that violence in any form should be eschewed in a democracy and that a state must exhibit zero tolerance towards it. The court set aside the state government's decision to withdraw prosecution and directed the public prosecutor to take appropriate measures within a fortnight.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged people to celebrate the Hanuman Jayanti festival peacefully, and said while religion is a personal choice, festivities were an occasion for all to join in.
Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday appealed for peace and asked "Hindu brothers" to ensure that minorities are protected, as prohibitory orders remained in force after post-Ram Navami violence in two towns of the densely populate Hooghly district.
Top Maoist leader Vekanteshwar Reddy alias Telugu Dipak, a close aide of Kishenji who was arrested in Kolkata on Tuesday, had focused on Nandigram, where a land war had been fought in 2007, besides adjoining Khejuri and Kolkata, a senior police official said.
In a fresh spurt of violence in Nandigram, seven persons were reportedly injured in adjacent Khejuri area as Communist Party of India-Marxist and Trinamool Congress activists opened fire at each other on Monday night. Trouble first began when two CPI-M supporters were reportedly thrashed with rods at Janka village in Khejuri area, a Marxist stronghold, following a minor altercation.
Sources said the police personnel complained of lack of food, accomodation and medical facilities.
The bombs were lobbed from Khejuri at around 10 pm by unidentified persons though there were no reports of any casualties, police said.
With recovery of a huge quantity of arms and ammunition recently from houses of some CPI(M) leaders at Khejuri in East Midnapore district, Railway minister Mamata Banerjee today suggested involvement of central agencies in combing operations and accused the Left Front government of using the police for partisan ends.
As many as twenty-three live bombs were recovered from Nandigram on Wednesday even as no untoward incidents were reported after skirmishes between the Trinamool Congress and CPI-M resurfaced. Police raided Talpati Canal near Janani Itbhata (Brick kiln) in Khejuri block near here in the early hours of Wednesday and recovered 23 live bombs, a rifle and several rounds of ammunition from the area.
The CRPF has been questioning the villagers on the identity of the missing bodies, how they had disappeared, who had dug up the graves, and whether the land was used as a graveyard earlier, CRPF sources said.
Nine live bombs were seized from the house of a school teacher, a Communist Party of India-Marxist supporter, in the Marxist party's stronghold of Khejuri adjoining Nandigram on Tuesday evening, a senior Central Reserve Police Force official said.
After the discovery of graves at Bidyapit village at Khejuri and Talpati canal, another grave was found on Monday near the former Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee stronghold of Maheshpur in Nandigram, the police said.
While villagers claim that the exhumed bodies belong to registered missing persons, CPI-M members claimed that the bodies were of party loyalists who were killed in an attack by Trinamool Congress activists.
The doctors who deposed were from hospitals of Nandigram, Khejuri and Tamluk to which persons injured in the police firing on March 14 were admitted
Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the CBI to immediately visit the troubled areas and collect all evidence of firing by the police.
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.
The two groups resorted to firing and hurled bombs from Satenganbari village and Takapura in Nandigram and from the adjacent CPI-M stronghold of Khejuri since Friday night, Superintendent of Police G A Srinivas said.
Since Saturday night, bombs were being hurled from Khejuri towards Nandigram and gunshots were heard in Kedorabarchak area, a PTI correspondent said.
To a question, Roy said though there had been no fresh clash at Khejuri near Nandigram, additional police forces had been deployed in the areas adjoining it.
The Bhangabera bridge on the border between Nandigram and Khejuri is where the first spark of violence erupted early January, leading to the divide between the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committee and the Communist Party of India-Marxist.
Earlier on July 29, a CPI-M activist was killed during the clashes between the activists of the Trinamool Congress-led Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee and CPI (M) workers along the Nandigram-Khejuri border.
Five half-burnt bodies were found by police while digging at Khejuri near Nandigram on Wednesday.
The police also said 14 improvised firearms and 500 rounds of assorted ammunition were seized by the CBI team from a brick kiln.
Nandigram block II has been the scene of recurring clashes over the issue of acquisition of land for a SEZ to be set up by Indonesia's Salim Group.
The official figure for the Nandigram panchayat election stated that 40 per cent polling was conducted till 1 pm on Sunday. In Kanungopada, only 200 families out of 900 were 'allowed' to vote. Those who voted were known CPI-M supporters.
Over 1.54 crore voters in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise in the 1st phase of polling
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Bannerjee on Friday rubbished allegations of understanding between her and Bharatiya Janata Party, stating that she attended the IISCO programme along with Prime Minister Modi as it was related to the state's development.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances