11-19-2008, 05:54 PM
Operation Pacify Paswan
Calcutta, Nov. 18: <b>Two hundred cops in and around a five-star hotel, 400 uniformed personnel elsewhere, one fire engine and several uprooted bushes seem to have helped Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee smooth some ruffled feathers of Ram Vilas Paswan.</b>
Security usually seen in Maoist-infested zones, not in ritzy hotels, greeted the Union steel minister back to Bengal today, 16 days after a landmine struck Paswanâs convoy and made him express incredulity at the chief ministerâs decision to leave early then.
Over 200 plainclothesmen and uniformed personnel were posted in the vicinity of the venue for an event where deals for coal block development and iron ore supply were struck . Police sources said the headcount was more than that required for even the Z-plus category.
Shrubs and bushes behind the hotel, bordering the Salt Lake Stadium ground, were cleared, apparently to avoid a repeat of the November 2 blast that was triggered by using a long wire which snaked undetected across a paddy field.
A fire engine was stationed on the hotel premises, a precautionary measure usually taken when the chief minister attends open-air events.
Along with the hardware came the chief ministerâs fulsome praise for Paswan. âThis (the coal and ore pacts) was not possible without Paswan. I thank him on behalf of all of you. Whenever we were in trouble, we went to him. He has almost cleared the chemical hub (in Nayachar),â Bhattacharjee said.
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Calcutta, Nov. 18: <b>Two hundred cops in and around a five-star hotel, 400 uniformed personnel elsewhere, one fire engine and several uprooted bushes seem to have helped Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee smooth some ruffled feathers of Ram Vilas Paswan.</b>
Security usually seen in Maoist-infested zones, not in ritzy hotels, greeted the Union steel minister back to Bengal today, 16 days after a landmine struck Paswanâs convoy and made him express incredulity at the chief ministerâs decision to leave early then.
Over 200 plainclothesmen and uniformed personnel were posted in the vicinity of the venue for an event where deals for coal block development and iron ore supply were struck . Police sources said the headcount was more than that required for even the Z-plus category.
Shrubs and bushes behind the hotel, bordering the Salt Lake Stadium ground, were cleared, apparently to avoid a repeat of the November 2 blast that was triggered by using a long wire which snaked undetected across a paddy field.
A fire engine was stationed on the hotel premises, a precautionary measure usually taken when the chief minister attends open-air events.
Along with the hardware came the chief ministerâs fulsome praise for Paswan. âThis (the coal and ore pacts) was not possible without Paswan. I thank him on behalf of all of you. Whenever we were in trouble, we went to him. He has almost cleared the chemical hub (in Nayachar),â Bhattacharjee said.
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