03-21-2007, 02:51 PM
Pioneer, 21 March 2007
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Outsiders had role in Nandigram carnage
Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata
CBI, doctors' team unearth fresh evidence
CBI officials probing the Nandigram carnage have revealed that a number of outsiders, most of them owing allegiance to a "particular political party", could have been involved in the violence on March 14 that left at least 14 men and women dead.
Though local CPI(M) leaders have ruled out any involvement of party activists in the firing and violence, the class of bullets recovered from the killing fields of Sonachura and Adhikari Para reveal there were others, apart from the police, firing at the unarmed villagers protesting forcible acquisition of farmland for industrial use. Â
The CBI claim has been reinforced by the findings of a team of voluntary doctors that claims over a hundred of those injured and being treated in local hospitals were hit by sharp weapons unlikely to have been used by the police.
According to the CBI's findings, while as per the claims made by the police they mostly used .303 bore bullets, many used shells found from the site of violence were of .315 calibre, indicating outsiders were also 'assisting' the police in establishing the "rule of law" in the area.
The Central agency was also trying to find out who used the guns - mostly used by hunters (in case of Japanese guns) and in the countryside - and from where they procured them. The CBI story dents the police theory that the clash was the upshot of an attack by the villagers.
The CBI sleuths requesting anonymity also claimed the gang of 10 people arrested from nearby Janani brick kiln - with 20 rifles, including those of Japanese make and about 700 live bullets, empty cartridges and burnt up shells of country-made bombs, some of which were also found at Sonachura and Adhikari Para - were outsiders and were "imported by a particular party for the action day."
A number of khaki dresses and helmets generally used by the police during an operation were recovered from the brick kiln, lending credibility to the "outsider" theory, CBI sources said. The CBI is trying to ascertain whether the people arrested from the kiln were involved in the last Wednesday's firing.
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While East Midnapore district CPI(M) leadership has ruled out any involvement of their cadre in the Wednesday's action, the CBI team feels recovery of party leaflets and flags and acceptance of the fact by the father of one Haru Maity, arrested from the kiln, re-establish their claim. According to Maity's father, his son has been an active party member having long established contacts with some senior district leaders.
The CBI would not reveal the name of the district leaders mentioned in the diary recovered from the kiln for the sake of investigation but felt "some big shots" were calling the shots there.
Meanwhile, a voluntary medical team visiting Nandigram has come out with some startling revelations underscoring supreme apathy on the part of administration in dealing with the hapless victims of March 14 police firing that left 14 dead and many more injured.
A team of doctors that visited Nandigram and the neighbouring hospitals on Tuesday found that there was only one doctor treating 410 people who were still admitted in various health centres around Nandigram. The doctors also felt the sheer number of women injured in the firing and undergoing treatment would dent the police claim that criminals and not villagers were resisting police action.
Â
Said a doctor requesting anonymity, "270 out of these 410 patients are women and 170 are men." He also said that 25 of the injured had sustained bullet injuries while 85 received injuries with "blunt and hard substances like lathis." While injuries sustained by some women proved molestation "or even rape," many others were hit by sharp weapons that are not used by the police, the visiting team of doctors said.
The doctors also added a general impression of the police force suggested that the subaltern class have been suffering from a deep sense of guilt after having been forced to fire by their superiors at the unarmed people, mostly women.
According to one doctor, the policemen who have since been asked to retreat to Bhangabera and Tekhali camps, away from Sonachura Bazaar and Adhikari Para, the two places that bore the brunt of the carnage, most of them have been suffering from depression. A doctor who also spoke to the cops said many cops have complained of getting hate messages from their near and dear ones back home.
"One feels that not only the patients but also the policemen would have to be given some amount of counselling in the near future as many of them want to quit their jobs," a doctor told this correspondent.Â
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Outsiders had role in Nandigram carnage
Saugar Sengupta | Kolkata
CBI, doctors' team unearth fresh evidence
CBI officials probing the Nandigram carnage have revealed that a number of outsiders, most of them owing allegiance to a "particular political party", could have been involved in the violence on March 14 that left at least 14 men and women dead.
Though local CPI(M) leaders have ruled out any involvement of party activists in the firing and violence, the class of bullets recovered from the killing fields of Sonachura and Adhikari Para reveal there were others, apart from the police, firing at the unarmed villagers protesting forcible acquisition of farmland for industrial use. Â
The CBI claim has been reinforced by the findings of a team of voluntary doctors that claims over a hundred of those injured and being treated in local hospitals were hit by sharp weapons unlikely to have been used by the police.
According to the CBI's findings, while as per the claims made by the police they mostly used .303 bore bullets, many used shells found from the site of violence were of .315 calibre, indicating outsiders were also 'assisting' the police in establishing the "rule of law" in the area.
The Central agency was also trying to find out who used the guns - mostly used by hunters (in case of Japanese guns) and in the countryside - and from where they procured them. The CBI story dents the police theory that the clash was the upshot of an attack by the villagers.
The CBI sleuths requesting anonymity also claimed the gang of 10 people arrested from nearby Janani brick kiln - with 20 rifles, including those of Japanese make and about 700 live bullets, empty cartridges and burnt up shells of country-made bombs, some of which were also found at Sonachura and Adhikari Para - were outsiders and were "imported by a particular party for the action day."
A number of khaki dresses and helmets generally used by the police during an operation were recovered from the brick kiln, lending credibility to the "outsider" theory, CBI sources said. The CBI is trying to ascertain whether the people arrested from the kiln were involved in the last Wednesday's firing.
Â
While East Midnapore district CPI(M) leadership has ruled out any involvement of their cadre in the Wednesday's action, the CBI team feels recovery of party leaflets and flags and acceptance of the fact by the father of one Haru Maity, arrested from the kiln, re-establish their claim. According to Maity's father, his son has been an active party member having long established contacts with some senior district leaders.
The CBI would not reveal the name of the district leaders mentioned in the diary recovered from the kiln for the sake of investigation but felt "some big shots" were calling the shots there.
Meanwhile, a voluntary medical team visiting Nandigram has come out with some startling revelations underscoring supreme apathy on the part of administration in dealing with the hapless victims of March 14 police firing that left 14 dead and many more injured.
A team of doctors that visited Nandigram and the neighbouring hospitals on Tuesday found that there was only one doctor treating 410 people who were still admitted in various health centres around Nandigram. The doctors also felt the sheer number of women injured in the firing and undergoing treatment would dent the police claim that criminals and not villagers were resisting police action.
Â
Said a doctor requesting anonymity, "270 out of these 410 patients are women and 170 are men." He also said that 25 of the injured had sustained bullet injuries while 85 received injuries with "blunt and hard substances like lathis." While injuries sustained by some women proved molestation "or even rape," many others were hit by sharp weapons that are not used by the police, the visiting team of doctors said.
The doctors also added a general impression of the police force suggested that the subaltern class have been suffering from a deep sense of guilt after having been forced to fire by their superiors at the unarmed people, mostly women.
According to one doctor, the policemen who have since been asked to retreat to Bhangabera and Tekhali camps, away from Sonachura Bazaar and Adhikari Para, the two places that bore the brunt of the carnage, most of them have been suffering from depression. A doctor who also spoke to the cops said many cops have complained of getting hate messages from their near and dear ones back home.
"One feels that not only the patients but also the policemen would have to be given some amount of counselling in the near future as many of them want to quit their jobs," a doctor told this correspondent.Â
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