In what could stand out as negative publicity ahead of the much-touted Bengal Global Business Summit Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday staged a humiliating retreat at Bhangore by calling off the National Power Grid Corporation project after the village on Tuesday witnessed fierce resistance from farmers that ended in police firing and two deaths.
At least two people died and many more got injured on Tuesday when villagers protesting a power grid project clashed with police prompting the latter to open fire. In a retaliatory attack thousands of villagers chased away a weak-kneed force, torched four police vans and dumped six other police vehicles into ponds.
Such was the situation on Tuesday that the cops including policewomen had to dump their uniforms in the paddy fields-to evade detection and run for their lives. This, notwithstanding the fact that the police were armed to the teeth.
“There was no order from above,” a subaltern official said refusing to concede that police opened fire. With their hands tied a humiliated police force literally revolted in the evening at the police lines insiders said, adding the senior officials had a harrowing time trying to pacify the force.
With “no orders to use force from above” the entire villages in Bhangore block remained virtually cut off on Wednesday as villagers armed with sticks and brickbat patrolled the roads and threatened to cut off communication if the police dared to enter.
Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday staged a meeting with the top bureaucrats including Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and instructed them to “find out and arrest the people who provoked the locals but don’t touch the villagers,” but literally ‘hand-cuffed’ the police against use of force.
Sources said a day after the Chief Minister transferred the Bhangore case earlier being handled by the South 24 Parganas Police to the Kolkata Police an instruction was issued to arrest the outsiders who were meddling in the local affairs.
“Outsiders” here meant students of Jadavpur University and some human rights groups Police sources said.
Power Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay said “the Chief Minister asked me to communicate to the NPGCl that the project stands called off.” The project was called off barely a couple of days before Kolkata was to host the mega Bengal Global Business Summit where about 50 nations were likely to participate.
Though the construction of the power grid started in 2013-on a 15 acre stretch-and was ready for inauguration it had to be stalled following protests from the farmers who wanted their lands back on bizarre environmental issues.
The locals, particularly women complained that the power grid would be an environmental hazard affecting their child-bearing capabilities. “Bhangore being a minority-dominated area this is a sensitive issue and it cannot be handled with force,” a senior Trinamool Congress leader said adding, “the Chief Minister has taken the right decision as we have a glaring example of Nandigram and lalgarh before us.”
Meanwhile, even as the administration made a meek capitulation palpable tension prevailed in the area, sources said adding most of the roads were blockaded with tree logs.
“There will be no peace in the area until the Chief Minister herself comes and assures us in writing that no power grid project will function from the area,” locals said adding the Government will also have to find out the 16 people who had gone missing since the police firing.
“We want our people back. We have the list of missing persons and fear that they might also have been killed by the police before hiding their bodies,” said Samsul a local leader.
Elsewhere making things further complicated the left Front on Wednesday warned of a series of agitations should the Government did not amicably settle the Bhangore issue.