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| CM, home secretary differ on TMC-Naxalite 'link' |
| Rajat Roy / Kolkata Nov 10, 2009, 00:58 IST |
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On the conclusion of his two-day visit to the Naxalite affected area of Paschim Medinipur yesterday, the chief minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had reiterated his allegation that the Naxalites in the state were getting active support from the TMC. Today, the home secretary, Ardhendu Sen, has contradicted him saying that so far the administration had got no such information of the Naxalites getting support from the TMC at the grassroot level.
Incidentally, the home secretary was present at yesterday’s press conference at Midnapore when the chief minister made that observation. When it was pointed out to him that his position contradicted the chief minister, the home secretary tried to explain it away by saying that the chief minister was speaking in terms of politics only.
However, the contradictory positions taken by the chief minister and his home department (Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is also holding the home portfolio) has only emboldened the opposition TMC to take on further offensive against the ruling Left Front.
Today, after organising a protest march against the growing political violence and killings in the state, Mamata Banerjee declared that she would take up ‘padayatra’ in the violence-affected areas of Lalgarh and other parts of the state.
Yesterday, the Naxalites responded to the challenged thrown by the chief minister by killing four EFR jawans. The attack came hours after Bhattacharjee announced intensifying operations against the Naxalites. The Naxalites ambushed a group of EFR jawans when they came out of their camp and went to the nearby market at Gidhni, a place near the Jharkhand border, and opened fire on them from point blank range.
Though there was some retaliatory fire from the nearby camp, the Naxalites escaped unhurt after looting the weapons of the fallen security men.
Later, the ever effusive Naxalite leader Kishenji claimed over telephone that it was a sort of response to the threats issued by the chief minister.
There has been a killing spree in the last two days when the chief minister was in the Paschim Medinipur district reviewing the anti-Naxalite measures being pursued by the administration.
Altogether, eight persons were killed in the junglemahal by the Naxalites, of which four were security men, one CPI(M) leader and three members of ‘Peoples. Resistance Committee’ propped up by the CPI(M) to fight out the Naxalites menace.
The Naxalites have struck today at Salboni though the details are not available with the state police headquarters till evening.
The home secretary has informed that the administration will strengthen all the police stations in the troubled zone with extra manpower and superior equipments.
The chief minister has already said that the development work in the tribal belt would continue side by side with the anti-Naxalite operation.
Today, Mamata Banerjee, while referring to the recent killings took a different line and said, “One should not differentiate our victims from their victims. Each and every killing is causing endless pain and misery to some family. We must rise above the party line and condemn the politics of violence.”
She announced that from November 15 she would take up ‘padayatra’ in all the troubled areas. Starting from Khanakul-Arambagh, she would go to Lalgarh and other places where political violence claimed a number of lives in the recent past.
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