Blood continued to spill in Nandigram as four people, suspected to be CPM workers, were killed at Sherkhan Chowk in a bomb explosion that also left four injured.In another incident, the convoy carrying Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was on a visit to the area, was fired upon at Gokulnagar near Tekhali bridge, after which Trinamool workers blocked rail and road traffic across the state. Surprisingly, Mamata’s pilot car was not with her convoy at the time of the incident.While the Bhumi Uchhed Pratirod Committee alleged that the four were killed while they were making crude bombs, the CPM alleged they were killed by BUPC supporters who hurled bombs at them at a relief camp.While three persons were killed on the spot, one succumbed to injuries later. The other four were admitted to Kamarda hospital at Khejuri.Around 10 am, BUPC supporters set the zonal committee office of CPM at Nandigram on fire. They also laid siege to the Nandigram Police Station, as a result of which police could not come outside, and blocked the road with stones and branches at Haripur to obstruct the movement of police. A bridge at Tengua was also damaged and the road there was dug up to cut off communication.The CPM has called for a 12-hour Khejuri bandh on Monday.Tension was palpable in the afternoon as the convoy carrying Mamata halted at Gakulnagar near Ekhali bridge for more than two hours because of firing from Khejuri. A few bullets landed near her vehicle and as a result her convoy could not cross the bridge. As she failed to proceed further, she came back to Contai at around 6 pm.Later she said: “They fired from Khejuri targeting my car and the local youth came out of their houses to save my life.” She also said that Dinesh Trivedi, a Rajya Sabha member of TMC, talked to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Union Home Ministry about the incident. She demanded Central intervention to restore normalcy at Nandigram.The TMC chief also said that Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta had talked to her and enquired about the incident and the total situation at Nandigram. She alleged that her pilot car refused to move further while her convoy reached Reyapara on the way to Nandigram.However, Raj Kanojia, IG, law and order, said the police had registered a case for the attack on Mamata’s convoy. He also said that the pilot car had left midway as BUPC supporters manhandled policemen of the van. A case will be registered for that also, Kanojia said. But he claimed that her personal security was with her.Meanwhile, G A Srinivas, SP, East Midnapore, said the police action was necessary to control the situation. He also said that fresh exchange of fire started at Ranichwak, Takapura and Kamalpur bordering Nandigram and Khejuri areas in the evening but police could not reach these places due to stiff resistance from BUPC supporters.In New Delhi, BJP President Rajnath Singh condemned the reported firing on Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee and called her up to express solidarity. Singh said the incident is yet another example of the complete breakdown of law and order in the Left-ruled state and also indicative of the CPM’s intolerance towards its political opponents.
