The CPI(M) on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the Purulia arms drop case alleging that the then Central government had been grossly negligent in conducting a probe into the incident which was aimed at destabilising the then Jyoti Basu government in West Bengal. CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said that the “kingpin’’ of the conspiracy, Kim Davy, has given specific details of how he had escaped from the Mumbai airport and reached Nepal.
“He has named Pappu Yadav as the person who assisted him. It should be noted that the same Pappu Yadav is in jail serving a life sentence for the murder of CPI(M) MLA Ajit Sarkar,” he said demanding that Yadav should be interrogated by the agencies. He alleged that the arms recovered in Purulia were meant for the Ananda Marg “to launch an armed attack’’ on the CPI(M). Mr Karat, meanwhile, used the opportunity to target Union home minister P. Chidambaram and the Left party’s main Opposition in West Bengal, Trinamul Congress, by saying, “At present too, the spectre of violence is being used to destabilise the Left Front government. Even the home minister recently talked on the killing fields in West Bengal and blamed the CPI(M) for it. On the other hand, the Maoist violence is being aided and supported by the Trinamul Congress which is part of the Congress-led government at the Centre.”