Anger and alienation turned tide against CPM in Lalgarh

On Monday, the whole nation watched on TV hundreds of people tearing down the house of Anuj Pandey, a CPI(M) zonal committee member, in Dharampur village in Lalgarh, about 250 km southwest of Kolkata.

Next day, Chandi Karar, CPI(M) local committee secretary’s house was attacked in Belatikri village.

Who are Pandey and Karar?
For three decades, they were virtual rulers of their little fiefdoms, as money flowed in easy with power. Both were panchayat contractors, besides being keepers of funds under the National Rural Employment Generation scheme and the mid-day meal scheme for school children.

Although this has been happening for three decades, the ignition was charged by the harsh police action, following the November 2, 2008 attack on Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy when he was returning from Salboni after laying the foundation for a steel plant of the Jindals.

Sample these.

Karan Hembram (30), a hardcore Maoist wanted for his alleged role in the attack, was a daily labourer at Chotapelia village in Lalgarh. Five years ago, he was picked up for allegedly killing a local CPI(M) leader.

Hembram was mercilessly beaten up in police custody for six months and then released due to lack of evidence. He was dying, when masked men took him away and arranged for his treatment.

It was in the same Chotapelia village where 40-year-old Chintamoni Murmu lost her left eye in a police raid. She turned into a PCPA activist.

Sasadhar Mahato (40) of Amlia village did his graduation with honours in Histroy. He was waiting to become a teacher in a Jhargram school. But a local CPI(M) man got the job, instead. He is now a Maoist squad commander and was the brain behind the attack. His brother Chhatradhar is a top PCAPA leader.