Court orders CBI to probe Nandigram

The Calcutta High Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inquire into the police firing in Nandigram on Wednesday. Fourteen died in the firing in the village in East Midnapore district.

The court order came on a day when journalists were barred from the troubled area by the police and political activists, while road blocks and protests disrupted normal life across the state.

The court order also coincided with the Salim Group, whose proposal to build a chemical hub at Nandigram has reached a violent climax in the state, choosing to distance itself from the developments.

Prasoon Mukherjee, chairman of the Universal Success group and Indian partner of the Salim Group, said selecting the land for its chemical hub was not the responsibility or choice of the group but that of the West Bengal government.

In a telephonic conversation from China, Mukherjee said it took him some time to get some information on what was happening in Nandigram. "I have been out of the country so I really don't know what is happening, but neither Benny Santoso (of the Salim group) nor I have anything to do with the developments there," he said.

Earlier in the day, a division Bench of the Calcutta High Court, comprising Chief Justice SS Nijjar and Justice PC Ghosh, while hearing a petition by the National Alliance of People's Movement and some lawyers, directed a CBI team to visit Nandigram immediately and collect evidence of firing by security forces on Wednesday.

The court directed the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government to file an affidavit detailing the circumstances under which the firing was ordered and also said no evidence of the incident should be destroyed.

Meanwhile, trouble erupted again at Nandigram as angry villagers torched the block de velopment office in protest against the firing.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, who was trying to visit Nandigram, finally succeeded in entering the area with a police escort today. Her convoy was stopped by CPI(M) activists last night.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee reached the regional hospital to meet those injured in the firing. As soon as she reached, nearly 2,000 villagers, mainly supporters of Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh (Land Acquisition Resistance) Committee, who had gathered outside, began shouting slogans against the Left government.

The villagers then turned their wrath on the BDO office adjacent to the hospital and set it on fire.

The police used lathis and fired teargas shells to bring the situation under control.

A search was on in the troubled areas of Nandigram for missing bodies of the victims of Wednesday's violence, even as the Opposition parties claimed the toll was "much higher".

Accepting the court order, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the probe must investigate the circumstances that led to the firing.

The West Bengal Assembly witnessed noisy scenes during the day, with Trinamool and Congress members protesting against the Nandigram incident and demanding the dismissal of the Left Front government.