Trinamool activists stall train movement

Demanding return of 400 acres of land "forcibly" acquired for the Tata Motors' small-car plant, hundreds of Trinamool Congress activists today blocked several trains, including the Rajdhani Express and the Bibhuti Express, at Dhaniakhali station in Hooghly district, for 30 minutes.     

The activists sat on the tracks along the Howrah-Bardhaman chord line with party flags and shouted slogans against the government's "reluctance" to return the land to the farmers. They stopped train movement from 9 am to 9.30 am.     

RPF personnel rushed to the site and persuaded the demonstrators to withdraw their agitation facilitating resumption of normal train services at about 9.40 am, police said.     

The protesters were also demanding support price for potato growers and immediate end to alleged CPI-M atrocities.     

Meanwhile, an uneasy calm prevailed near the small car plant site here, but normal work was reportedly on inside the plant.     

Tension had been brewing at Singur for the last few days after Trinamool Congress-backed 'Save Farmland committee' allegedly issued notices to migrant labourers of the plant to leave Singur.

An engineer of a civil construction company was assaulted by some people in the area recently, causing panic.     

The CPI-M local unit said it would take out a procession in Singur this afternoon.