Kamtapuri hunger-strike: 7 hospitalised, 8 more join fast

Seven fasting Kamtapuri activists in Malda district correctional home were hospitalised today, the fourth day of their indefinite hunger strike, while eight more joined the agitation taking their total number to 28.
Superintendent of the correctional home D Bhutia said, "seven of the 20 Kamtapuri activists, who had started fasting on May 27, were admitted to Malda Medical College and Hospital as their condition deteriorated."
Eight more such activists also joined the hunger strike demanding immediate release, he added.
Of the total 729 inmates, 55 are undertrial Kamtapuri activists who were arrested for their alleged links with the banned Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) and the Kamtapur Peoples Party (KPP) and lodged in the correctional home for nearly an year.

Meanwhile, relatives of some of the fasting inmates today demonstrated before the correctional home after being denied permission to meet them, Bhutia said.
KPP Central Committee vice-president Subhas Burman said all the 55 people were innocent and demanded their unconditional release.
The objective of the KLO is to carve out a separate Kamtapur state comprising six districts north Bengal and four contiguous districts of Assam.