W Bengal govt stops land acquisition in Nandigram

The West Bengal government today decided to defer the land acquisition at Nandigram in East Midnapore district of West Bengal.

Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitted that Haldia Development Authority (HDA) had committed an error and circulated a land acquisition notice last week, following which violence erupted in Nandigram. The CM had so far denied that the land acquisition notice was served in Nandigram.

"HDA circulated a notice but this was a mistake and unfortunately, lives were lost due to this," said Bhattacharjee. "I have told HDA to tear up the notice and throw it away," he stated at Writers' Buildings late today.

He declared that the land acquisition process in Nandigram would be stopped and no land would be acquired without the consent of the villagers. "We shall talk to every 'gram panchayat'. I will go there and talk to the villagers," he added.

Nandigram, a panchayat area close to Haldi town, is a minority-dominated area where agencies like Jamaat-Islam-e-Hind joined hands with Trinamool Congress and Naxalite groups to resist the land acquisition for the proposed SEZ to be built by Indonesia's Salim Group.

The resistance was organised under the umbrella of Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (Committee to resist eviction from land).

Government sources confirmed that 11 people had been killed there.

Meanwhile, the police today began to move into the villages of Nandigram in East Midnapur district, to set up camps for restoring peace in the trouble-torn area.

Inspector-General (IG) for the western range, Arun Gupta, said no incidents of violence had been reported from Nandigram since last night. Unconfirmed reports, however, said unidentified men exploded bombs at Sarberia village last night.

The first police camp will be set up at Hazra Kata where a bridge was damaged.