No untoward incident in Nandigram

Nandigram, ''recaptured'' by the CPI(M), remained incident free for the third day on Saturday, even as fear still stalked the area despite patrols by CRPF personnel.

CPI(M)'s flags were seen everywhere, whether on houses, trees or planted in paddy fields ready for harvest.

Many Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee supporters, some of whom had belonged to the marxist party before January's outbreak of violence and were driven out, making them seek shelter in relief camps, were ''afraid'' of returning home because of fear of ''retaliation'' by the CPI(M).

''It is sad that the CPI(M) has to dominate with brute force the same people who used to swear allegiance to the party for years,'' said a BUPC supporter who refused to be identified at a relief camp in Nandigram.

The CRPF, patrolling interior areas, had warned the CPI(M)'s bike brigade, and arrested one of them for going around on a motorcycle, allegedly without registration plates.

The man, identified as Bacchu Karan, was handed over to the police by the CRPF, Circle Inspector of Mahishadal Swapan Kumar Dey said.

A large convoy of the West Bengal police led by senior officers also entered Nandigram during the day.

HC order on Nandigram an interference: CPI(M)

The CPI(M) on Saturday dubbed the Calcutta High Court order declaring the March 14 police firing in Nandigram ''wholly unconstitutional'', as ''interference in the state and Centre's jurisdiction'' and urged the West Bengal government to move the Supreme Court.

''The High Court's order on Nandigram is an interference in the state and Centre's jurisdiction. We are urging the state government to move the Supreme Court. If High Court has the last word on everything, what is the use of the legislature and the executive?'' said Biman Bose, leader, CPI(M).

Bose, who is the Left Front chairman and a CPI(M) Politburo member, questioned ''Will the court decide the government's course of action?

''If the court tries to rule over the two other pillars of democracy, what is the need of the legislature and the executive? The court has suddenly turned proactive on Nandigram,'' he said.

He also criticised Governor Gopalkrisha Gandhi, who has indicted the state government, saying the ''recapture'' of Nandigram was ''unlawful and unacceptable''.

''The governor is playing a partial role on the Nandigram issue,'' he said.

''Why did not the governor show concern when CPI(M) supporters were attacked and driven out of Nandigram?'' he asked.

Senior CPI(M) leader Benoy Konar said ''Raj Bhavan and the court have joined hands against the democratically elected government in the state.

''It is because of the governor that the High Court took up the case on Nandigram,'' he alleged.

''The governor is also a citizen, he can take up the Trinamool Congress flag and join politics. But he cannot do this while being an occupant of Raj Bhavan,'' he said.

Nandigram: WB Governor meets Basu

West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who has indicted the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government for the violence in Nandigram, met CPI(M) patriarch Jyoti Basu on Monday in order to seek his initiative to restore peace.

''I am sure that his initiatives will bring back peace in Nandigram,'' the governor said after a 40-minute meeting with the former chief minister at his Salt Lake residence.

''I have come to pay my respects to Basu and I have full confidence in him.''

Asked if he would speak to Chief Minister, Gandhi replied, ''the Chief Minister will talk to me.''

About the CRPF personnel being prevented from entering Nandigram by CPI(M) cadres, he said ''I am sure he (chief minister) will take adequate steps.''

Before the governor's visit, CPI(M) state Secretary Biman Bose had a 30-minute meeting with Basu.

Bose, who returned to Kolkata on Sunday in the midst of the CPI(M) politburo meeting in Delhi, said that he had briefed Basu on the developments in Nandigram and submitted a report to him.

BJP reacts

Conflicting statements from the BJP over the Nandigram issue have lent a whole different angle to the ongoing political turmoil.

While the saffron party president Rajnath Singh, speaking in Bangalore on Monday, demanded the dismissal of the West Bengal government, senior leader and former home minister L K Advani had earlier refused to acknowledge that there is a constitutional breakdown in the state.

Buddhadeb defends 'Nandigram takeover'

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is still defending the violent take over of Nandigram by the CPM.

On Tuesday, justifying the bloodshed he said those controlling Nandigram were paid back in their own coin.

Today while sticking to his stand, Bhattacharya said he spoke as a party leader and not as the chief minister of West Bengal.

Thousands of people protested on the streets of Kolkata against the violence in Nandigram and Buddhadeb's defiance.

''I stick to that. Some people are trying to project that the violence was started by CPI-M workers. Last 11 months, the Bhoomi Uchched Pratirodh Committee, the Trinamool Congress and the Maoists were creating violence with arms. And last two-three days, CPI-M workers had paid them back in their own coin,'' said Bhattacharya.

There were qualifiers that he is speaking as a CPI-M party leader and not as a chief minister. But after the widespread condemnation of yesterday's statement, no one was listening.

The silence of the masses led by artists and intellectuals is breaking out into a roar against the manner in which the government has handled Nandigram.

Not only Kolkata's intelligentsia, Buddhadeb's own Left Front partners took him to task for his attempt to justify the eye for an eye policy in Nandigram.

Meanwhile, the state government has allotted Rs one crore for relief and resettlement of those returning home.

Supporting CPI(M) state secretary Biman Bose's statement that there was a ''new dawn'' in Nandigram following the ''recapture'', Bhattacharjee said the government has allocated Rs one crore from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for relief and rehabilitation.

''The fund is being sent to the (East Midnapore) District Magistrate. From this, Rs 1,000 would be given to the returning families for reconstruction of fully-damaged houses and Rs 500 for partially damaged ones. Each family would be given another Rs 1,000 for buying utensils,'' he said.

He added that the funds would be given to the affected families irrespective of their political affiliation. (With PTI Inputs)

Nandigram likely to create storm in Parliament

NEW DELHI: Nandigram issue is expected to generate enough heat in the winter session of Parliament beginning on Thursday turning the brief sitting into a stormy affair while the Indo-US nuclear deal will come up for discussion in the midst of an apparent thaw between the UPA and the Left allies.

"Whenever Nandigram will be raised, it will create a storm," a senior minister admitted on Wednesday as opposition BJP as also Trinamool Congress have given hints to leave no stone unturned to corner the Marxists heading the Left-front government in West Bengal.

It could be trouble from the word go as BJP has given a notice seeking suspension of the Question Hour on November 16, the first working day of the session on the Nandigram issue demanding an immediate discussion in the matter.

The main opposition has also identified nuclear deal, Ram Setu, FDI in retail, terrorists influence in capital market and minimum support price for paddy for raising during the session that would conclude on December seven.

The all party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee today gave indications that the session would not be a smooth affair given the range of issues that were expected to be raised by various political parties.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi said that the government was ready for an early discussion on the nuclear deal but the earliest it could be held was on November 19 and 20.

Both Houses are expected to be adjourned on the opening day tomorrow after paying obituary to Vijay Khandelwal in Lok Sabha and Jana Krishnamurthy in Rajya Sabha who died during the inter-session period.

Shutdown over industrial hub in India's West Bengal

New Delhi - India's eastern state of West Bengal witnessed a complete business shutdown on Monday in response to a strike call by several political parties over the treatment of villagers opposed to an industrial hub, media reports said. More than 34 people have been killed since January in police action and strife between villagers opposing and supporting a proposed industrial hub on farmland in Nandigram village, 140 kilometres south of West Bengal capital Kolkata.

The village and its surrounding areas have seen recurring clashes between supporters of West Bengal's leftist coalition government and members of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh (stop land acquisition) Committee despite the state government announcing earlier this year that it had shelved the plan to build the industrial zone.

The violence, which peaked in early February, flared again over the weekend. Six people died and several were injured as supporters of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) attempted to return to the village from which they were ousted earlier this year.

The CPI(M) is the leading coalition partner in West Bengal's coalition government of leftist parties.

Nandigram and adjoining areas were tense as CPI(M) supporters took out victory processions on Monday, NDTV television network reported.

The state police stood as mute bystanders as the CPI(M) cadre beat up supporters of the anti-land acquisition group, local people were quoted as saying by NDTV. At least 3000 of them were being housed in a temporary camp while others, largely women, went into hiding or fled.

"The villagers are scared as the police are not supporting them. The women are hiding and there have been allegations of rape," an NDTV reporter from Nandigram said.

There are few reports of the situation on the ground as the media and opposition politicians are being barred from entering the area by the police.

Earlier, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special security advisor MK Narayanan said the federal government was deeply concerned over the situation. He said Maoist rebels may have made inroads in the area and the state government was attempting to allow those who had been evicted from their hamlets to return with minimum violence.

Senior West Bengal police official Raj Kanojia said Monday the situation was peaceful in Nandigram and federal paramilitary forces would take position during the day, IANS news agency reported.

All schools, colleges and most offices and business establishments in Kolkata and other parts of the state were closed on Monday in response to the strike called by opposition parties.

The West Bengal capital's streets were deserted. Train and air services were also affected, with passengers stranded at stations and at the airport, IANS reported. Several incidents of violence were reported across the state, the police said.

The Trinamool Congress, a regional opposition party, has called an indefinite strike to protest the government's handling of the Nandigram issue.

Strike over killings shuts down east Indian state

KOLKATA, India, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A strike to protest the killings of villagers opposed to West Bengal's communist-ruled government shut down schools, offices and businesses on Monday in a challenge to the Indian ruling coalition's main ally.

At least 20 people were injured in clashes between police and strikers in the state capital, Kolkata. Strikers set two buses on fire and ransacked a hospital and a railway station, police said.

The strike was sparked by the killings in the last week of at least six villagers in Nandigram, a few hours drive southwest of Kolkata, as they battled communist supporters. Dozens of villagers were injured in the clashes.

Nandigram won national recognition by successfully opposing communist government plans to set up industry on farming land. But hostilities have not abated as the state's communist supporters tried to win back control of the village cluster.

"The communists are killing innocent villagers in Nandigram and have not even spared women and children," said Mamata Banerjee, chief of the Trinamul Congress, the state's main opposition party which called the strike.

The violence in Nandigram has been a political embarrassment for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) which has its stronghold in West Bengal. The party shores up the Congress-led coalition along with three minor left groups.

The conflict has resonated nationally. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government said it would send federal police to Nandigram, and the main national opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has voiced support for the strike.

Communist party leaders and police have blamed the recent violence on Maoist rebels who have set up base in Nandigram and were helping Trinamul activists with arms and training.

But the communist party's own allies have criticised the government, and some ministers in the leftist coalition threatened to resign over Nandigram.

The West Bengal government's decision to abort the project has helped galvanise nationwide opposition to similar special economic zones, aimed at encouraging industry and exports through tax incentives.

The communists returned to power for a seventh term last year, pushing a reformist programme of industrial expansion, but regular strikes and continuing violence over land reforms could hurt their effort to woo industry, analysts said.

"Industry will definitely take a backseat if the violence does not stop and the initiative to restore peace is not taken by the communists," economist Abhirup Sarkar said. (Editing by Alistair Scrutton)

Red cadres beat Centre’s forces to Nandigram

The first batch of CRPF personnel finally reached within kilometres of battle zone Nandigram on Sunday. But they came a bit too late.

For, before any CRPF jawan could set his foot on the trouble spot, the fight had already ended between the CPM cadres and the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC). CPM cadres regained almost all of Nandigram.

In most places, the CPM cadres entered the villages firing indiscriminately and following it up with looting and arson. In a move reminiscent of medieval warfares, the CPM organised a huge rally placing 500 captured BUPC members, all tied up, on the forefront as human shields. This served two purposes-one, it make BUPC think twice before firing on the rally and two, if there are any landmines, then the "human shield" would bear the impact.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the Center said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who reached Moscow on Sunday night, was closely monitoring the situation and had spoken to West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya.

Earlier, speaking to reporters on board the prime minister’s special aircraft en route to Moscow, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan said, "It is a tricky situation. It is a matter causing a great deal of concern. Delhi is concerned, Kolkata is also concerned." He added that an officer had been sent to Bengal from Delhi to assess the situation and file a report. Narayanan did not rule out the possibility of a Maoist hand in the violence.

There was no conformation of how many people were killed or injured, as the media was barred with CPIM cadres guarding all entry and exit points to the areas where most of the fighting was taking place. They didn’t even allow the police superintendent’s convoy to enter Nandigram.

Even Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee’s effort to reach Nandigram was blocked. The motorbike on which she was pillion-riding was obstructed by hundreds of CPM cadres. The farthest she could go was till Tamluk Hospital where she met injured BUPC members.

Though there was no official confirmation from the police, CPIM district secretariat member Ashok Guria said "all the homeless CPM supporters, who were thrown out of their houses at gun point, has been returned to their homes till the Kendemari area. Now there are no homeless people in Nandigram Block-I."

But, Trinamool MLA Sishir Adhikari claimed that CPM is yet to get control of five out of 17 blocks of Nandigram and that they would again enter the places on Monday, which CPIM tried to enter today with more than 50,000 people. However, a local SUCI leader Bhabani Prasad Das present at Nandigram Bazar said all is lost for BUPC in Nandigram and now fleets of homeless are coming to the relief camps for shelter.

Later in the evening, a dejected Mamata Banerjee told the media, "what will CRPF do now in Nandigram? Will they guard the broken houses and empty villages. CPM goons have destroyed everything.”

When questioned on whether she would go to Nandigram and protest, Mamata said "I wanted to see the villagers, not the CPM goons”. Then she went on saying, “was my silent protest not enough".

Amid strike, violence reported in Nandigram

NANDIGRAM: CPM supporters indulged in gunfire, arson and looting in recaptured Bhumi Ucched Pratirod Comittee (BUPC) strongholds of Garchakraberia, Sonachura and Gokulnagar in Nandigram on Monday, a BUPC member alleged.

"CPM cadres are firing, setting houses on fire and looting to scare away our supporters still remaining in the areas," district YC leader and BUPC member Milan Pradhan claimed.

Police was not available for comment. Pradhan claimed that at least 200 persons were missing from the areas since Sunday night. "Armed men set houses on fire and went on a looting spree last night also after recapturing the areas," he said. He said his father, who was kidnapped on Sunday and taken to the CPM stronghold of Khejuri was escorted back on Monday morning by the police, he said.

The opposition-sponsored statewide shutdown today led to shops remaining closed and traffic off the roads in East Midnapore district. Most shopowners left the area. At Nandigram bazar, there was tension with both CPM and BUPC taking out processions, eye witnesses said.

CRPF not being allowed to enter Nandigram: Mamata

Tamluk (WB) (PTI): With CRPF not being allowed to enter trouble-torn Nandigram, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the Prime Minister's Office and the Union Home Ministry to ensure that the Central forces are deployed in the area.

"Banerjee spoke to the PMO and Union Home Ministry this morning and apprised them of the situation prevailing in Nandigram," TC General Secretary and MP Mukul Roy told reporters here.

"She also told the PMO and Home Ministry officials that CRPF was not being allowed to enter Nandigram and sought their intervention to ensure that the Central forces are deployed," he said.

Roy said CRPF personnel, who arrived on Sunday, were camping here and at Chandipur.
He said Banerjee, who left Kolkata on Friday, was prevented from going to Nandigram as CPI-M activists put up blockades at different entry points while the media was also being barred from entering.

The TC supremo, who had managed to enter this town on a motorbike from Kolaghat yesterday after her convoy was stopped, was staying here.

He said the "recapture" of Nandigram by CPI-M was complete and alleged that thousands of people were being beaten up and driven out of their homes.

"CPI-M hoodlums from their stronghold of Khejuri are searching for supporters of the Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee," he said.

CPI(M) alone to blame for Nandigram bloodbath

Kolkata (PTI): In a major jolt for CPI(M) after the Governor's indictment, three major constituents of the alliance on Sunday accused its lead party of being solely responsible for renewed violence in Nandigram.

"We don't support the wanton violence as a means to find a solution in Nandigram. We are totally opposed to it. The CPI(M) alone is responsible for this unfortunate turn of affairs," said RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI in a unanimous resolution after a joint meeting.

"A volatile situation exists in Nandigram and adjoining areas. We demand that peace and normalcy be restored in Nandigram, for which proper administrative measures have to be taken," the resolution, which was read out by CPI state Secretary, Manju Kumar Mazumdar, in the presence of the leaders of the three partners, said.

RSP state secretary Debabrata Bandhopadhay said the manner in which Nandigram is being recaptured and the resulting bloodshed was discussed during a two-hour meeting convened by veteran Forward Bloc leader, Ashok Ghosh.

The RSP, whose minister Kshiti Goswami has expressed his wish to quit the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cabinet, and also did not rule out pulling out all four ministers from the ministry in protest against the violence, was urged by both CPI and Forward Bloc to reconsider it.

However, party sources said Ashok Ghosh told the meeting that leaving the Left Front ministry would not have any effect but the partners should mount constant pressure from within on the CPI(M).

The resolution also virtually debunked CPI(M) allegations that Maoists were inciting violence in Nandigram.

The resolution was a clear attempt by the junior partners to isolate CPI(M) on Nandigram issue and did not wish to suffer the collateral damage of the happenings there.

In a strong criticism of the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government on Friday, Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi had said that the recapture of Nandigram villages was totally unlawful and unacceptable.

A determined Mamata

A determined Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee is repeatedly trying to enter Nandigram despite blockades put up by CPI(M) cadres at different points.

After her convoy was stopped last night (November 10) and then at Kelomal near Kolaghat in East Midnapore district today, Mamata got onto a motobike and proceeded towards Tamluk hospital on the way to Nandigaram. She took a round about way through Panskura instead of the normal route of NH41 while proceeding to the village.

Agencies reported that CPI(M) cadres had obstructed her convoy at Kelomal, between Panskura and Tamluk.

But Banerjee was escorted by a party supporter in a two-wheeler towards a hospital in Tamluk where the injured in the violent clashes yesterday, were admitted.

A day after two people were killed in clashes in Nandigram, an uneasy clam prevailed in Nandigram today even as Banerjee left for the strife-torn village.

Roads wore a deserted look as Marxist supporters were seen gathering at certain locations in the village. The Bhumi Uchhed Pratirodh Committe activists too assembled before a hospital where most of the injured were being treated.

Meanwhile, IGP (Law and Order), Raj Kanoji told PTI in Kolkata that one battalion of CRPF had arrived today and the jawans would soon be deployed in Nandigram. The outbreak of fresh violence forced the Centre last night to announce dispatch of 1,000 additional CRPF personnel for Nandigram, earlier sought by the state government.

Police forces were today deployed in front of the police station to prevent attacks on them similar to those carried out by BUPC activists yesterday forcing the police to fire teargas at them.

In protest against yesterday's violence, Trinamool Congress has called for an indefinite 'halt Bengal' strike from tomorrow, while Congress, SUCI and CPI(ML-Lib) called a 24 hour shutdown on Monday and a similar one by BJP for 48 hours.

The RSP, the ruling Left Front partner, which has announced its protest against CPI(M) role in Nandigram and with one of its minister Khsiti Goswami expressing his desire to resign from the ministry, is to meet in Kolkata on November 13 to decide its future course of action.

WB artists fight for Nandigram

West Bengal's artists and intellectuals have kicked up a storm over Nandigram. They want to know what the Left Front government is doing to restore normalcy in the region.

''The way they are treating people they are just fascists we just every moment we are thinking that they should resign from the government. That is the ultimate. We are just approaching common people to just stand for this,'' said Subha Prasanya, PainterAs the people of this state wait for the government to take some effective measures in Nandigram to restore peace and normalcy on the ground, protests are growing.

Here, intellectual theatre and film personalities are the latest to join the pressure group for the government to find a way out of the situation there.The protesters at Nandan, the venue for the 13th Kolkata Film Festival, were treated roughly.Close to 100 artists, writers and poets were picked up and bundled into police vans and taken to the central lock up in the police headquarters at Lalbazar.

There were no women police to deal with the women protesters. The police action was roundly condemned.''Today in West Bengal if you are not supporting the Left you will be called biased. This is like dictarorship.

Where is the moral superiority of the Left? Farmers are being tortured by the Left. It is horrifying,'' said Aparna Sen, FilmmakerThe protests are set to become bigger.

On Wednesday, a big rally will be taken out from College Square to condemn the government's handling of Nandigram.

CRPF on way, after governor’s alert

New Delhi, Nov. 10: A 1,000-strong CRPF battalion will finally march into Nandigram — but it has taken the governor’s Diwali fireworks to do what the chief minister’s request couldn’t.

The Union government today decided to send the contingent after Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s statement yesterday where he quoted the state home secretary to describe the region as a war zone.
The first batch of central paramilitary should be in the state by tomorrow.

The decision, pending with the Prime Minister’s Office since Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee asked for the force about a fortnight back, came days after sources in the Union home ministry said minister Shivraj Patil had expressed his inability to spare any CRPF battalion.
Not only were all 191 battalions committed, the situation in Nandigram did not warrant a deployment, they had added.

Union minister P.R. Das Munshi had written to Patil, saying there was no need for central forces in Nandigram.

This morning, Patil spoke to Bhattacharjee and urged him to take immediate steps to restore normality in the area. He also asked the chief minister to ensure that people displaced from their homes could return and peace was restored.

Sources said Patil had conveyed the contents of the governor’s report to the PMO and got the go-ahead to send the battalion.

They said the Centre had been keeping a close watch on the situation and had earlier desisted from sending in forces because of the sensitivity of the situation.

“When ruling party cadres are creating unrest, it is somewhat awkward for a central force to go and enforce peace. But the situation has gone out of hand and it is time for the CRPF to step in. The Centre gave the state government ample opportunity to maintain law and order on its own,” a home ministry official said.

Patil urged the Bengal government to “make optimum use” of state security forces as they were familiar with the language and the terrain.

“Local police always have an advantage. They can help restore peace and normality in the area much faster if they want,” the home ministry official said.

The sources said the CRPF was withdrawing companies — each has about 125 personnel — from states like Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Jharkhand. “They are drawing from various states so that deployment in one place does not get substantially depleted,” the official added.

CPI-M 'recaptures' Nandigram bases

Kolkata, Nov 7 (IANS) Launching a massive offensive against the Trinamul Congress-backed group, the Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPI-M) regained lost bases in West Bengal's Nandigram, as fresh violence claimed four lives in the trouble-torn area amid demands for central intervention by opposition leader Mamata Banerjee.

As violence escalated in Nandigram, veteran CPI-M leader Jyoti Basu changed his stand and said deployment of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) should be postponed and if needed talks should be initiated with Banerjee for the third time to find a political solution.

"I have told the chief minister (Buddhadeb Bhattacharya) to postpone deployment of central forces in Nandigram. Instead, we have asked him to arrange an all-party meeting to restore peace in troubled areas. If needed, we can talk to Mamata Banerjee again though previous all-party peace talks failed," Basu said after meeting of the ruling Left Front.

Hours later, Banerjee called a press conference to demand deployment of the army in Nandigram under central supervision and invocation of Article 355 of constitution in the state which mandates the union government to protect states against internal disturbance. She, however, expressed her willingness to sit for talks if the same was held at Basu's initiative.

"We demand immediate central intervention in the state under Article 355," she said as she threatened to unleash an agitation which "would be a free-for-all and with no idea what shape the same would take".

About 2,000 people fled from their homes in Nandigram since Tuesday to escape an offensive launched by CPI-M activists from the adjoining base of Khejuri to regain control of their lost ground.

"Four villagers have been killed since Tuesday. There is a report of one more death but the same is unofficial," West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said.

Roy virtually rebelled against the CPI-M's official stand and gave his own version of the situation in Nandigram. CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose was quick to retort that the home secretary was not aware of the full facts in Nandigram.

"About 2,000 people, largely Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) supporters, are homeless. The CPI-M has gained ground in Maheshpur and adjoining areas of Nandigram. Many CPI-M supporters have returned home," Roy said.

"Nandigram has turned into a war zone. We are trying our best to control the situation," he had said a day before.

Earlier, East Midnapore Superintendent of Police S.S. Panda told IANS that besides the four deaths about 10 people were injured in the violence since Tuesday, including a woman and a policeman.

The death toll in Nandigram violence rose to 32 since January when the region flared up over proposed land acquisition for a special economic zone (SEZ), including a chemical hub, a plan that was later scrapped by the state government in the face of stiff resistance.

Though the SEZ was scrapped, a turf battle continued in Nandigram between the CPI-M and the Trinamul Congress-supported BUPC in the run-up to the local body elections in May next year.

CPI-M supporters Tuesday torched house after house in Nandigram, about 150 km from Kolkata, as they advanced from adjoining Khejuri to regain control as villagers fled for their lives, carrying whatever they could, reports from area said.

Some 200 CPI-M men from Khejuri armed with long-range rifles, single-barrel guns, pipe guns and bombs Tuesday crossed the Talpatti canal at Bahargunj and attacked Satengabari, Brindabanchowk, Jambari, Girirbazar, Keyakhali, Simulkunda, Saifullachowk and Raynagar villages of Nandigram.

"It is a planned attack. The CPI-M has assembled its armed supporters to mount the attack with the backing of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) and crush the opposition," said West Bengal Public Works Department Minister Kshiti Goswami who belongs to the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), an ally of the CPI-M in the government.

According to one report, 30-year-old Manasi Das, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was holding on to her four-year-old daughter Shiuli when two bullets pierced her thighs Tuesday. She hasn't seen her daughter since.

"Shots were being fired from Khejuri since early morning. From 8 a.m. the shouts of CPI-M workers drew near. I was hurrying out of the house with my daughter," Manasi told a Kolkata daily from the Tamluk Hospital.

"My husband Swapan had our six-year-old son Soumen with him. I was hit in the legs and collapsed. I have not met my daughter or any of my other family members since," she said.

Most residents of BUPC-controlled areas of Satengabari, Girirbazar, Brindabanchowk and Jambari fled their homes Tuesday. They were given shelter in school buildings elsewhere.

The CPI-M has been launching attacks from Khejuri where about 1,500 party supporters are living in refugee camps after they had to flee Nandigram in January.

On March 14, at least 14 villagers were killed in police firing in Nandigram when they resisted the entry of policemen to the area.

The chief minister has appealed to opposition parties to find a political solution to the Nandigram violence while seeking the presence of central security forces in the area.

People fled from their homes

About 2,000 people fled from their homes in Nandigram since Tuesday to escape an offensive launched by CPI-M activists from the adjoining base of Khejuri to regain control of their lost ground.“Four villagers have been killed since Tuesday. There is a report of one more death but the same is unofficial,” West Bengal Home Secretary Prasad Ranjan Roy said.Roy virtually rebelled against the CPI-M’s official stand and gave his own version of the situation in Nandigram. CPI-M state secretary Biman Bose was quick to retort that the home secretary was not aware of the full facts in Nandigram.

“About 2,000 people, largely Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) supporters, are homeless. The CPI-M has gained ground in Maheshpur and adjoining areas of Nandigram. Many CPI-M supporters have returned home,” Roy said.“Nandigram has turned into a war zone. We are trying our best to control the situation,” he had said a day before.Earlier, East Midnapore Superintendent of Police S.S. Panda told IANS that besides the four deaths about 10 people were injured in the violence since Tuesday, including a woman and a policeman.

CPI-M supporters Tuesday torched house after house in Nandigram, about 150 km from Kolkata, as they advanced from adjoining Khejuri to regain control as villagers fled for their lives, carrying whatever they could, reports from area said. Some 200 CPI-M men from Khejuri armed with long-range rifles, single-barrel guns, pipe guns and bombs Tuesday crossed the Talpatti canal at Bahargunj and attacked Satengabari, Brindabanchowk, Jambari, Girirbazar, Keyakhali, Simulkunda, Saifullachowk and Raynagar villages of Nandigram.“It is a planned attack. The CPI-M has assembled its armed supporters to mount the attack with the backing of the Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) and crush the opposition,” said West Bengal Public Works Department Minister Kshiti Goswami who belongs to the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), an ally of the CPI-M in the government.According to one report, 30-year-old Manasi Das, in an advanced stage of pregnancy, was holding on to her four-year-old daughter Shiuli when two bullets pierced her thighs Tuesday. She hasn’t seen her daughter since.