Nandigram: a month after police firing

One month after the police firing at Nandigram, which left 14 dead and several injured, the cops are yet to make a progress into the investigation of police firing.

They have also not been able to manage to trace the main man who had supplied the huge cache of arms and the ammunition to the CPI-M supporters who were caught by the CBI officers from a brick kiln in Khejuri.

After the incident, the district police lodged three cases in Nandigram and Khejuri police stations. “While two cases of unlawful assembly was lodged with the Nandigram and Khejuri police stations, another case was lodged with Khejuri Police Station after the arrest of the 10 members of a political party from a brick kiln,” Inspector General of Police, law and order, Raj Kanojia said.

All these cases are being currently probed by the Criminal Investigation Depatrtment (CID). Besides these two cases, the state government has launched an enquiry whether the police firing was justified at Nandigram and Adhikaripara which left 14 people dead.

Apart from this, the Criminal Investigation Department (CBI) has already submitted a report in the High Court regarding the evidences they have collected from the spot. “We have submitted our report to the High Court following their order,” joint director, CBI, BB Mishra told the Hindustan Times on Friday.

He, however, refused to divulge the contents of the report. The High Court had ordered that the Director CBI should immediately visit Nandigram so that the evidences did not get lost. Accordingly, the CBI went to the spot and found evidences to suggest that outsiders along with policemen were involved in the clash and bullets, not used to police, fired.

Meanwhile the administrative inquiry by Balbir Ram, divisional commissioner, Burdwan zone, has started in Nandigram. “Currently I am hearing the witnesses of mayhem on March 14 at Bhangabhera and Adhikaripara at Tamluk,” Ram said. But this procedure has received a jolt as the participants of the anti land grab protesters under banner of Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee of Nandigram have refused to attend the meeting at Tamluk citing security reasons.

“We would be killed if we go there,” said Bhabani Das, advisor of Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee. Altogether 320 people of Bhumi Uchched Pratirodh Committee who were witness to the carnage have refused to narrate their account before Ram.

District Magistrate, East Midnapore, Anup Agarwal, however, said that he is willing to provide security for the people who would be going to Tamluk. “But still if they don’t go what will I do,” he said.

Das then shot back and said, “How will be the injured persons go there? Why haven’t they done the entire exercise at Nandigram which we have demanded. Doesn’t they know the distance between Nandigram and Tamluk is more than 60 Km,” he said.

Regarding the CID investigation, DIG, CID, Neeraj Narayan Pandey said that they are still probing all the cases admititng that there has been no headway in the entire probes. “We have more a less fixed up the owner who had supplied these guns to the 10 people but we are not divulging his name right now,” he told the Hindustan Times.

And regarding the unlawful gathering in the two cases, Pandey said that his men are still examining people who were present in the spot.

“We have already examined several villages and policemen who were present in the spot. We are also going through the post mortem examination reports to know more about the carnage,” he said. Altogether 14 people who were arrested by the CID for these two cases.

“But we have suffered a set back after all of them were released on bail from the High Court this week,” an officer admitted.

CID officers said in the two unlawful gathering cases they are trying to find out what led to the outburst of the people and the people who instigated the villagers and whether the firing was justified.

“We are also trying to find out whether the outsiders were also involved in the clash and whether there was any cases of outrage of modesty by the policemen or by the outsiders,” a senior CID officer said.

This comes after the Human Rights Commission report pointed out that two policemen had raped victims of Nandigram. Chief Secretary, Amit Kiran Deb later said that there was error is drafting the report.

For BOX: One Month After the Carnage

1) Three police cases: Two of the unlawful gatherings and the arrest of the 10 CPI-M men, no headway and the 14 people arrested have got bail from High Court this week.

2) CBI had submitted a report on the carnage to the High Court.

3) Administrative inquiry by Balbir Ram not making much headway as most of the eyewitness have refused to attend him.

4) Human Rights Commission reports pointed out that the policemen had raped victims of Nandigram. The government later said there was an error in drafting the letter.