Trinamul leaders escape Nandi arrest net

Tamluk, Feb. 2: At least 100 Trinamul leaders wanted in cases related to the Nandigram land war, including murder, are yet to be arrested although they are roaming around freely, the revelation coming at a time the CPM has alleged that its members are being singled out and picked up.

Arrest warrants are pending against 125 Trinamul leaders, many of whom are elected functionaries of panchayats and the East Midnapore zilla parishad. Although they were chargesheeted before the Assembly polls last year, they are still mentioned in police records as absconders.

All these leaders, who were active participants of the anti-land acquisition movement of 2007, are not only roaming around openly but also attending office, signing documents and addressing rallies.

At a rally in neighbouring West Midnapore yesterday, CPM leaders including Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had accused the Trinamul-led government of framing and imprisoning CPM leaders, drawing a distinction with his erstwhile administration and seeking to target Mamata Banerjee's avowed bipartisan policy. The former chief minister had said that his government did not arrest any Opposition leader.

Many CPM leaders, including Lakshman Seth, have either been jailed or are absconding after being named in chargesheets relating to the Nandigram recapture of 2007.

The Trinamul leaders claimed they had been framed. "All the cases against me are false. The CPM-led government had ordered the police to fire at us," said Abu Taher, the convener of the BUPC that had led the land movement.

"We had demanded that the false cases be withdrawn but Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee did not listen to us," he added. Taher said the accused Trinamul leaders were trying to get bail in all the cases from the high court. "We have also appealed to chief minister Mamata Banerjee for help."

Asked how he could move about freely and attend office, Taher said: "We are going to office in the interest of the people of Nandigram. If we stay away from the panchayats, development work will come to a halt."

Another accused, Shamsabad gram panchayat chief Sheikh Khushnabi, said: "We have to sign birth and death certificates and attest documents relating to houses. If we stop performing these duties, the people will suffer."

A senior district police officer said raids had been conducted on the houses of the accused Trinamul leaders "several times" but "they could not be found". "It is not possible for us to keep track of their movements continuously," he said.

East Midnapore CPM secretary Kanu Sahoo criticised the government for "turning a blind eye to these wanted leaders and workers simply because they belong to Trinamul". "After the new government came to power, no step was taken to execute the warrants. But 15 of our party workers have already been arrested in connection with the disappearance of six land protesters from Nandigram in 2007," Sahoo said.

District Trinamul chief Sisir Adhikari steered clear of controversy. "We don't want to intervene in police matters. It is the duty of the police to execute arrest warrants."