27 cops, 6 villagers wounded in Birbhum clash
A Birbhum village turned into a war zone in the early hours of Tuesday when local villagers and police fought a pitched battle there. Several villagers and police personnel were injured. The villagers alleged that the police had opened fire on them while the state government vehemently denied the charge.
The incident revived memories of Nandigram and Singur’s anti-land acquisition agitations.
Giving details of the incident, state home secretary Basudeb Banerjee said at the Writers’ Buildings that the police force had gone to Loba village in Dubrajpur police station area to retrieve an earth-moving machine which the villagers had seized in 2011. The machine belonged to a private company DVC Emta Coal Mines Ltd which had taken it to the area for coal mining. The company had been allotted coal blocks in Birbhum district and had acquired land for mining through direct purchase method. The company had lodged a police complaint and therefore the police had gone to recover the earth-mover from Loba.
“A total of 27 police personnel and six villagers have been injured. Two of the villagers and some of the policemen are serious. The injured are being treated at Suri Hospital and Burdwan Medical College and Hospital,” Mr Banerjee said.
The injured police personnel included the officers-in-charge of Nalhati, Rajnagar and Ilambazar police stations.
The irate mobs also damaged nine police vehicles. In a re-run of Nandigram anti-land acquisition agitation, they also dug up roads to stop police vehicles.
Mr Banerjee categorically denied that the police had opened fire in the village. “In fact the police had shown utmost restraint even when the angry villagers attacked them with arrows and bombs.
Even the doctors have not found any bullet injuries or remnants of bullets in the (bodies of the) injured persons,” he added.
The villagers, however, claimed that at least four persons — Purnima Dom, Shyamal Ghosh, Gautam Ghosh and Jeevan Bagdi — had suffered bullet injuries. This, however, has not been confirmed officially. The home secretary has asked the district magistrate and superintendent of police of Birbhum to try to resolve the dispute through negotiation with the villagers. The villagers who had initially willingly sold their land to the mining company became restive when the company wanted to acquire additional land.
An influential farmer Joydeep Mazumdar mobilised the villagers and launched a movement demanding higher compensation and better rehabilitation package under the banner of Krishi Jamin Rakha Committee. The dispute between the mining company and the local residents led to an impasse. “The villagers have been demanding that the Emta authorities should deal with them directly but they are bent on grabbing our land through middlemen. We are not against industry but we must get a fair deal for our land,” Mr Mazumdar said.
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